


Waking In Dreams

by Sugoitoi



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Attempted Murder, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Attempted Seduction, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, Explicit Language, F/M, Graphic Description of Corpses, Khajiit (Elder Scrolls), Kidnapping, Magic, Minor Character Death, Modded Skyrim, Modern Girl in Skyrim, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Platonic Relationships, Romance, Skyrim Romance Mod, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:07:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27172864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugoitoi/pseuds/Sugoitoi
Summary: Nara is a twenty seven year old woman who was practically obsessed with Skyrim and still played it years after its release using multiple play throughs and mods to keep the game fresh. She wanted to be a part of that world so badly, that she studied how to start lucid dreaming. One should be careful what they wish for. Nara wakes to find she is actually IN the game now, and reality is gritty and raw. Being a subrace (ohmes-raht) of khajiit doesn't help matters either with the civil war. Hopefully she can find a way to survive this world and find a way back to her own. But what happens when the NPCs become real people, with real hopes, thoughts, and dreams? What happens if she finds a home somewhere in Skyrim? This is one of my first works of this fandom, and its *mildly* (cough cough) self indulgent. Its a modern girl in a video game troupe, but its not a self-insert. It's merely a retelling of my play through with my head cannon sprinkled on heavily. Updates may be slow as I write the chapters as I play the game.
Relationships: Bishop/Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn, Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Kaidan
Kudos: 19





	1. Careful What You Wish For

Smell was the first sense that registered to Nara as she grumbled in half wakefulness, pawing about for a favored pillow which she couldn't sleep without. The smell was strong and musty; the more she focused on it, the more she woke with a confused groan. She knew her apartment building was a little old, but it shouldn't smell musty. The mold had been taken care of months ago by the landlord when she complained (quite a few times before something was done about it she might add).

More came to her, something foul and smelling of filth filled her senses then, and Nara gagged, eyes fluttering slightly more awake now, rubbing at her eyes, and not quite realizing her hand was very soft and fuzzy. Whatever it was, smelled like SHIT! She could hear water dripping then, as her mind started to process surrounding sounds. Though it was strange, as everything sounded so crisp and clear, like everything was coming through a mic where the gain had been turned up really high. She felt a few drops of water hit her head then, noticing now that her clothes were also damp. Ugh! Had the upstairs neighbor's pipes burst again?! The landlord was gonna hear HELL about this. Nara grunted and stood up and away from the direct line of dripping water, still rubbing at her eyes. Waking was always a challenge to the woman. Ears flicked, moving around to listen to a distant sound she couldn't make out.

Wait...ears...flicked and....??? She was wide awake now, finally noting she wasn't looking at the drab white walls of the room of her apartment but what looked to be a stone wall not even a few feet from her face. The stone was damp in places, and had moss growing between some of the grout. I must still be asleep. This is a dream. Nara looked at her hands, seeing patterned fur and claws, though they looked to have been filed down or broken off. What was she? Nara lifted her hands up and felt around the top of her head, flinching when she felt soft ears. Unmistakably cat ears at that. After a moment of thought, Nara twisted slightly and saw a tail behind her and she blinked before turning around to take in the room. It was a storage room of sorts, that much was obvious, but it seems to have been commandeered for a bedroom as well, though the look of the iron bars across from her and down a small set of stairs indicated it was more like a prison cell. She knew this room like the back of her hand.

Nara looked over where she knew the statue of Mara to be. A smile grew then, excitement bubbling up so fast she giggled lightly, the sound echoing in the cell. It worked! She was having a lucid dream! Furrowing brows brought confusion and curiosity with them. Why was she having a dream about Skyrim though? True she still played the game even though it was 2020, but it was such a good game that she played it often. It was a great game, in fact. Nara wouldn't say she was...obsessed with the game, but she didn't really have any friends besides the ones online to spend time with outside and this blasted pandemic was keeping most indoors anyway. Sigh, social distancing...yay. As many countless, truly countless hours she had put into Skyrim, it made sense this would be what she dreamed about eventually. It was interesting this was her first lucid dream however. Nara had been determined to have one after reading about other's experiences. She tried meditating before bed for weeks with the single mantra of 'I will have a lucid dream' running through her mind each night. Dreams had always been vivid for Nara, but this was..well it was surreal how much detail her mind was putting forth. She tried to remember falling asleep, but as usual one doesn't remember falling asleep when they enter a dream so she let that go. What did she look like? Did she look like the character she was working on the other night for yet another play through of Skyrim, or did she look more like herself? One way to find out. 

Looking around, Nara found a bucket of water lying under a lit torch and she padded her way over, feeling a bit odd as she looked down to her clawed feet, flexing them before lifting to turn one and she nearly squealed! She had toe-beans! Soft and pink even with dirt clinging to them, a finger delicately poked the sensitive pad gently, giggling to herself at the tickling sensation. Wow, the subconscious was something else. Moving towards the bucket, Nara knelt before it and peered over the rim, taking a look at her face. Oh! So she did look like her Skyrim character. Nara had installed a few new mods after a break from Skyrim to see what all was new from the Nexus. She had always liked the depiction of Avis from 'Skyrim Romance Mod'. So, when she saw an Ohmes-raht race, the woman eagerly downloaded it and spent a few solid hours playing around with the character creator portion. 

Nara indeed had cat ears and pale fur with honey-brown and dark grey stripes, blending into a more human like face around the edges, giving her overall a pale golden colour scheme. She stared at her large wide set misty green eyes and her flat almost cat like nose which transitioned to a darker skin tone at the tip. Her hair was long, slightly wavy, and a pale golden grey like her fur. Lastly, her mouth was small but she had full, shapely lips. Nara smiled, finding her reflection quite cute, even if she was dirty and she swore she could smell her own B.O. Curiously, Nara noted the warpaint she had selected earlier when making this character wasn't there. This was her lucid dream so she could change it, right? Taking a moment to concentrate on her image she imagined the golden yellow and black warpaint combination she had chosen which made her think of a wasp or a bee. Expecting it to change. Disappointment filled her when it didn't, ears drooping down in response to emotion. Well that was weird. Everything she read had seemed to suggest you could just think or will things into dream-reality. Maybe it was because it was her first lucid dream? That must be it.

With her mind made up on this, Nara stood to her full height which, was quite small, probably no taller than a Bosmer. Looking down she frowned a bit, groping the air in front of her small chest. 

“I miss having big boobs.” This body was rather lithe and small. But, that was advantageous for the rouge and thief types she normally played. 

Looking over towards the statue of Mara, she smiled and approached it, a shiver running down her spine and tufts of fur standing on end down when hearing the gentle, and compassionate voice in the air and in her mind.

“Approach my child, and choose where your new life shall begin.” 

Nara silently mouthed along with the words she knew so well as she stopped before the statue, taking a moment to think of all of the options she had. Going off the mod list she could currently remember (assuming this was pulling straight from the game IRL), Kaidan was just one cell down from her. Lucien would be in Dead Man's Drink in Falkreath, Inigo was in Riften jail, and Bishop from SRM would be in Riverwood. Rumarin from Interesting NPCs was...somewhere north-west of Windhelm...she thinks. There were also a few other companions that she possibly threw in, but she couldn't quite recall her full mod list at the moment as it was well over 150, and most were quests, immersion, and a few self indulgent ones like Become King of Skyrim. Depending on how long this dream lasted, if she even got that far, Nara wasn't sure if she would 'play' through that one or not. A khajiit High Queen just didn't seem plausible in Skyrim. 

Having many options to choose from as she stood there, tail twitching softly which felt so strange, like it was an extension of her spine. Again, Nara was in awe at what the subconscious came up with. 

“I want to escape this cell.” In previous play-throughs, she had just told the statue to surprise her, but since it seemed she didn't have full control, she didn't want to get stuck in a certain situation, like starting off in the Imperial army, or the vanilla start.

“So be it. The path ahead will be hard and long, Nara. Keep heart, and always look forward. I will be watching you, as will others.”

Nara blinked in confusion. Thats...not what the game's normal dialogue was. Chalking it up to her subconscious just filling in things for more immersion, the woman looked to the lock picks which had appeared on the table beside her. Taking them in her hand, she approached the cell door, her ears moving about on their own as sounds caught her attention. A soft cough, the rustling of armor, the scratching of a quill on parchment somewhere in a back room as well as the dripping of water in multiple places and all the echos of these sounds. 

Looking to the lock then, Nara blanked for a moment. It was one thing to pick locks in the game but she highly doubted an interface was going to pop up once she started. Well, these were basically medieval locks right? They should be simple enough and she had three lock picks. Bending over a bit to be eye level with the lock, she inserted the little one with the hook and then the piece that was long and flat...heck she didn't know what the actual terms for these tools were! She just played a thief, she'd never picked a lock in her life. 

Not sure how to really start now that she was 'in position', Nara wiggled the one with the little hook about, trying to get a feel for the lock. She thought she could feel a pin, and pressed up on it, before trying to turn the lock. She felt a click, realizing the end broke off.

“Well, shit.”

Throwing the broken one behind her shoulder, she grabbed one of the remaining two, and went to insert it, but it wouldn't fit due to the broken end of the pick being lodged into the lock. Well...realistically..that made sense but..this was a bummer. Huffing, she stood, gently kicking the gate so as not to hurt herself but still wanting to vent her frustrations. What now? Nara looked down at her hands and hummed in thought. Would she be able to cast a fire spell? Maybe she could melt the lock off? 

Nara furrowed her brow and stared at the palm of her hand, trying to will a flame into existence. She could feel a build up of heat, but it seemed to fizzle out before it even started. Dammit. Taking a deep breath she tried again, this time imagining a flame slowly building into the palm of her hand and visualizing drawing energy from her magika. After a moment, she opened her eyes, and stared at the baseball sized fireball in her hand, gently flickering and casting light through the cell. All right, YEAH~! 

The fireball in her hand flared out suddenly with her excitement, almost singeing the fur of her arms and eyebrows off before she was able to calm down. Thank the skies she practiced meditation. The fur around her palms was a little singed, the smell of burnt hair filling her nostrils and it was so strong she gagged slightly. Okay, that wasn't pleasant. After a few moments of making sure she was calm and in control again, Nara turned to face the lock and stepped forward. Placing a hand over the lock and staring at it, imagining the fire in her palm turning into a red hot inferno and coming forth in a stream of solid fire. It worked and the metal of the lock slowly began turning red hot. Once it was a nice cherry red colour, she went and grabbed a burnt out torch from the table and jammed it between the door and the frame near said lock before leaning into it with a grunt. The metal groaned softly as it bent and the door popped open with a clang. The sound echoed, and Nara froze, listening for any sounds that someone may have heard that. It would seem none did, as she couldn't hear frantic footfalls, and everything was silent, save for the natural sounds of the prison. 

Giving a sigh of relief, Nara gently set down the torch and made her way up the stone stairs, trying to be as light on her feet as possible, which seemed to be rather easy with her new toe beans and fur between said beans. Coming up the stairs, she expected to find the skeleton lying on the floor, along with a few useful items on the table, including the key to Kaidan's cell. Oddly though, there was no skeleton, no coin pouch, no dagger, and no key on the table. Just an empty tankard and bowl. Okay, that was disappointing. But, Nara liked a challenge so she crouched down and crept forth, worrying the inside of her lip as she wasn't used to such an awkward position for moving. This dream was almost too much detail the woman thought, feeling her thighs already begin to ache a little at sneak walking. 

At least Kaidan was where he was supposed to be. Looking to the right she saw him half hanging from the bars on the wall, head limp and most likely unconscious. Even though his cell wasn't lit by torch light she could see him clearly in the dark. Thank goodness for khajiit night vision. Quietly making her way over, she kept an ear out for sounds of movement in other parts of the prison, and made way to the cell door. Standing to a slight crouch, once again fire was used to turn the metal cherry red, but this time the khajiit kept going until it deformed as it melted and dropped to the floor in a sizzling heap. Nara's brow was already dripping with sweat and she let out a small breath before opening the door and venturing forth, stepping over the heated metal with care. 

Kaidan groaned softly as she moved into the cell, slowly lifting his head to see which one of those bastards had come to question him this time. His face still ached from the beating after spitting on the last Thalmor but it had been worth it. He'd die in this gods forsaken pit before he gave them anything. Squinting his eyes into the dark, he saw a petite figure come towards him, and his vision focused as they stepped into the light seeing...a very odd khajiit. What? Was he hallucinating now? Kaidan clenched his fists against his binds, wincing as the rusted metal cut into sore wrists. Well, he was awake at least. The 'hallucination' looked at him with a bit of shock, and sadness, before it spoke to him.

“Hey, you awake? Can you hear me?” Her voice was just above a whisper, and pale green eyes looked over him in clear concern.

The...well it was a female he knew that much..but this was the strangest khajiit..if that's what it was he had ever seen. It was a khajiit right? Cat ears and tail, fur all over, but the face was oddly human. He glared at the hallucination, not liking his mind toying with him in this manner. Maybe he had finally gone crazy down here. Wouldn't surprise him with what he'd been through in the...how long had he been down here? Weeks? Months? He didn't know anymore, yet he still clung to the hopes he would at some point get out and drive those Thalmor through for capturing him and torturing him all this time. 

Kaidan was jarred from his thoughts when he felt the hallucination leaning against him slightly, on their toes as they were reaching above his head and fiddled with something, most likely the lock. It felt so real too, the short fur, while dirty was still so soft when it came into contact with his skin, and he could smell the fact she needed a bath badly, but so did he.

“Hang in there, I'm going to get you out.” Nara had almost called him by his name, but wasn't sure if dream-Kaidan would take kindly to that. He would probably flip out. She would too, if some stranger already knew her name. 

Kaidan gave a soft bitter laugh as she worked at the lock above him, staring at her tail as it swayed back and forth, twitching every couple of minutes before looking past her and seeing the still cooling pile of metal on the ground by the cell door. Had she done that? His eyes looked to the melted door and assumed so, a sour feeling settling in his stomach. Of course he would hallucinate a magic-user of all things. He despised magic. Once again, he was jarred from his thoughts when suddenly the restraints that were binding him to the wall came loose, and he fell to the floor, only just catching himself on shaking hands. What? Kaidan took shallow breaths, wincing in pain as he knew at least one of his ribs had been broken a few days prior. 

“I didn't find any healing potions I'm sorry, let me try something.” Again that soft voice whispered and he felt hands touching him, light as a feather over his skin. Some hallucination this was.

The sound of healing magic filled the air as did a soft golden light after some silence and he felt new life breathed into him, his injuries healed in a matter of moments. Blinking rapidly, the freed man looked up to the khajiit-thing and furrowed his brow. She was smiling sadly at him. This wasn't a hallucination. He was aware and this was real. She was real.

“Who are you? How did you get in here?” He questioned warily, taking a moment to look her over. She was in rags too, was she a prisoner like him? How did she break out? Questions ran through his mind as he waited for an answer.

Nara had been so surprised at the...graphic detail with which her dream depicted Kaidan. She knew that his injuries were severe from the torture he endured by the Thalmor that brought him here, but she didn't expect it to look so...real. He was thinner than he should be, with bruises littering his dirty body which smelled horrid the closer she got though breathing through her nose made it bearable, lest she gag again. Seeing as things were already taking a slightly altered turn, the khajiit supposed she didn't have to go 100% to script, which would've been hard anyway. She had a good memory, but not THAT good.

Concern gnawed at her mind for not having found any healing potions that were normally in the corner on top of a crate, but seeing as she could use the basic fire spell, she also figured she would be able to heal, but she wasn't sure if she could heal others. This was her dream however, and after freeing him from his binds, she attempted to heal him through the spell, hoping her dream didn't stop her because she hadn't used the specific spell tome yet for 'healing hands'. Pulling from her magika and transferring some of her energy to him, Nara imagined his wounds closing up and bruises fading; any swelling receding until all that were left were the scars on his back that never healed in the game, too old to be healed by magic sadly. 

“My name is Nara, I was a prisoner here too but I broke out after—THE PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED!” 

Both looked up to see the Thalmor guard in gleaming armor sneering at them before drawing his sword. Nara hadn't heard them coming as she was too focused on Kaidan. She could now hear the sounds of boots coming down the hall other hall and she cursed under her breath; they were without any weapons between them besides her magic! 

As the armored Thalmor approached with a drawn sword raised to strike her down, Nara quickly raised both of her palms up together at the wrists and sent a stream of fire at his face. Instead of marching on as the NPCs tended to do until you killed them in the game, Nara watched in horror as his skin near instantly burned, becoming black and his eyes too, melting like runny yolks down his face. She screamed at the image as the altmer dropped his sword, and clawed at his own face, before sinking down to the ground, writhing in horrible and unimaginable pain before he gave a choking gurgle and died in a mere matter of moments. 

This was too real. Nara didn't like this anymore! She shook like a leaf as adrenaline started to fill her veins and again the scent of burnt flesh and hair wafted into her nose. This time she did vomit the contents of her stomach onto the stone. 

“I'll gut you both!” Nara snapped her head to the broken wall of the cell to see the Thalmor in robes fighting with Kaidan. He was wielding the dead Thalmor's sword. When had he grabbed it?

Kaidan clenched his teeth when he heard the Thalmor guard yell. Dammit, so much for an easy escape. He had some of his strength back, but he didn't have a weapon, and neither did the strange khajiit. He could hear the other Thalmor coming down the hall now, and saw them appear with wide, enraged eyes before they came to unlock the gate from the other side of the wall and join the fray. This was bad. This was gonna get messy. Or so he thought, as he watched the little khajiit-like-thing ruthlessly blast a stream of fire straight into the guard's face, burning so hot that it had instantly burnt the man's skin to a crisp and he died not a few moments after. Then Nara screamed in horror and he sprung into action, grabbing the fallen sword and rushing to the other Thalmor just as he made his way through the door, wielding his own sword against Kaidan. He growled as their blades met for a moment, before stepping back. 

“HEY STOP SCREAMIN' AND FUCKING HELP, KHAJIIT!” What she fucking stupid? Kaidan dodged a blast of lightning that connected with Nara and she yelped behind him though he didn't look to see if she was alright as he concentrated on the altmer before him, glaring at the bastard. 

Nara was trying not to have a panic attack. She had read that lucid dreams could get too real for some people, even cause PTSD and things like sleep paralysis. Though she was still dreaming, so it wasn't any sort of paralysis. She needed to wake up! Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.Wake up Nara, WAKE THE FUCK UP!!! 

The lightning spell connecting with her tore Nara from her thoughts as she yelled in pain before spasming, involuntarily clacking teeth together with the motion, and biting her tongue so hard it bled. Once the pain receded, Nara realized she was on the ground, staring up at the stone and gasped for air. She had been shocked before, but with a joke pen! This just fucking burned, like her veins were on fire. Her head also pounded painfully and she winced. Again, she turned her head and vomited a mixture of saliva, acid, food remnants, and blood with a groan.

“Hey, you alright there?”

Nara looked up with a cough at Kaidan, before weakly nodding then shaking her head, wincing at the foul taste in her mouth.

“I t-think so..” She was still shaking like a leaf. Luckily Kaidan grabbed her arm and swiftly but gently helped her up. 

“What the fuck was that? You just started screaming and wouldn't move! You're lucky he dropped his sword and I grabbed it before the other Thalmor got to us.” He looked down at her angrily, a glint in his eye. 

“I..I...” Nara gulped. “I've never..I didn't expect it to be so...” The words were hard to get out. While Nara loved scary movies and played violent games, it was one thing to see it on a screen; it was another to actually see it in such realistic detail. This was no dream; this was a damn nightmare. She began to hyperventilate. 

Kaidan raised his brows as she spoke. This was her first kill. Was she some noble's kid that never killed no one?? Why the hell was someone like her captured by the Thalmor then? Well, her odd appearance may certainly have something to do with it. As her breaths came rapidly, it was clear she was panicking he sighed and placed his hands on her small shoulders.

“Hey—Hey! Look at me. Nara!” Those pale green eyes snapped at him at the use of her name. “Just calm down, alright? Take a deep breath in...and out. Like that...that's it.” He breathed with her until she was able to calm down, which wasn't very long surprisingly. 

Nara's body wanted to choke on the air, but she forced herself to breathe, hiccuping a little as she also wanted to start sobbing. Panicking would only fuel the nightmare, she had to remain calm. As Kaidan called her name she flinched, looking at him suddenly. He was trying to help. She nodded at him a few times, knowing what to do and followed along, soon after breathing normally again. 

“There, you're alright now, yeah? Just take it easy for a minute if ya need, we're safe for the moment.” Kaidan stood back from her then and went to grab his sword from the dead Thalmor. "Son of a bitch had it coming."

Nara's eyes followed him, widening when she saw the frozen wide eyed look on the dead Thalmor, the sword Kaidan had used was still lodged into his mid section, blood spilling out around the wound onto the stone. She breathed through her mouth to avoid the strong scent of the blood that hit her like a semi-truck. 

“My name is Kaidan by the way.” His voice caught her attention again and she looked up at his face, blinking back a few tears she hadn't known were threatening to fall. 

“N-nice to meet you. K-Kaidan.”

He chuckled, “You're scared half to death and you're worried about being polite? Weird one you are.” He turned to start heading towards the way the Thalmor in the coat had come from, stepping over his corpse. 

“Hey, where are you going?” Oh. His gear is in a chest..right. Nara followed behind him quickly, sticking close though she knew there were only the two Thalmor stationed here. 

“I'm going to get me gear. They took everything I had when they brought me here. It's probably stashed somewhere.”

Nodding, Nara continued behind him as they went down the hall and to the left to the little room that the Thalmor who's name she couldn't remember had been in. She eyed the chest at the far wall, then looked at the table and was grateful to see some potion bottles. She instantly took them into her hands, trying to think how she would carry these and keep her hands free. Prison rags didn't exactly have pockets. 

Kaidan was busy putting on his armor he had found in the chest and making sure that all his gear was still here, which, surprisingly it wasn't touched. Small miracles. Hearing something behind him, he looked over his shoulder to see Nara emptying a sack of rotten potatoes onto the floor. He quirked a brow before he watched her stick some potions and a few loose coins into the sack. Ah. The warrior watched her rifle through the wardrobe for anything she could find, pulling out some clothing to hold against her to see if it would fit. She was so small however it would hang from her frame no matter what she found. Nara seemed not to care however and stuffed a few pieces in her bag anyway. She was probably smaller than a Bosmer. Almost child like. Was she a child? He came back from his thoughts when she was standing before him with a slightly nervous smile.

“T-thank you for, uh, calming me down...” Her eyes drifted to the ground, cheeks flushing slightly and her tail wrapped around her legs. She was embarrassed.

“Hey, I should be the one thanking you. Though it was a bit tricky for a moment there, you did save my life...and..” He sighed, turning fully to face her and look down at her. “I'm not a man who's comfortable being in debt.” Was he really about to do this? He knew nothing about her. She could be trouble. She was trouble, clearly. Though his sense of honor was strongly pulling to protect this little thing for some reason. She just looked so...helpless and lost, looking up at him expectantly with those big misty green eyes of hers, waiting for him to say something else. He inhaled sharply through his nose.

“I'm not sure where you're from Nara, or where you are planning to go, but I'll follow you if you'll have me. Until that debt has been repaid, that is.”

She was silent for a long moment, her eyes seemed to shine at the corners, and for a moment he was worried she was going to burst into tears, but just as quickly she seemed to reign in control of herself and nodded swiftly, pulling a smile onto her face that almost seemed genuine.

“I'd like that, Kaidan. I could use someone as my sword and shield, for a time at least.” 

Nara gave a silent but shaky breath. She really hoped she would wake up soon. This was quickly wearing her down. No wonder people cautioned about lucid dreaming. Turning on her heel, she walked out of the room, Kaidan not far behind her.

\--------------------------

After they had scoured the prison for anything usable, which, there wasn't much but at least they found a few things like extra potions, a few sets of clothes, even a proper pack for Nara to put her things in which she happily traded the potato sack for. They left the prison soon after, mid-morning light streaming down on them. Kaidan winced at the bright light he was no longer used to before taking a moment to close his eyes and just breathe in the fresh air, having been trapped down there so long he could scarcely believe he was actually in the light of day again. He looked over to the khajiit. She had changed into some clothes they found which she 'altered' to fit her by using a dagger to cut the sleeves and legs to a more manageable length, though they were still too big on her frame and made her look even more like a child. He eyed her bare feet, finding it so strange she hadn't grabbed a pair of boots but had grabbed some gloves. Was it a khajiit thing? Kaidan couldn't recall if khajiit went around without shoes at the moment, so shook it from his mind to speak up.

“So, Nara...where to now?” 

“I-I'm not sure...we are closest to Windhelm I believe, and Kynsgrove isn't far off. There is Ivarstead as well, though a major settlement might be better for supplies.”

He raised a brow. “You know your way around a bit then? To be honest I figured you for some noble's kid, the way you screamed when you killed that Thalmor.”

Nara practically pouted at him, her brow furrowing. 

“I'm not a kid. I'm just short. I'm twenty seven.” Though, and this was a bit odd, she felt like her body was younger than that. Definitely not that of a child, but perhaps in young adulthood. She was however twenty seven mentally, and would claim so. 

“You're twenty seven and you haven't had your first kill yet??” He looked at her almost as if that was an insult he had been shocked to receive. 

“Yeah, well, some of us weren't raised with a sword in our hands..” Nara was looking towards the cabin that had been collapsed in by the fallen tree who knows how long ago when she realized what she said, and blinked. Shit. That was referring to some of Kaidan's dialogue he had yet to say. Nara risked a look at him, seeing a stern look on his face, though the man didn't appear angry or anything negative, just staring at her.

“I suppose you're right. Its just unusual in Skyrim is all.” She looked like she could be a noble when he thought about it. Though her face was still dirty and she needed a bath, the skin underneath was clear from what he could tell, and her hair was longer than most could grow it, falling down to the small of her back in waves. While petite, she did look rather healthy, a slight roundness to her small face; indicating she never missed a meal.

Nara sighed internally in relief. Okay, he didn't suspect a thing, good. She felt she had to walk on egg-shells now, afraid to turn and twist this dream into a nightmare again if she said anything out of order or off. While it was her dream, clearly she wasn't consciously in control as she had hoped. Maybe if she went to sleep in the dream she would wake up?

“So, where to Nara?” The swordsman asked again as they began to make their way across the river and up the hill side. 

“Lets go to Windhelm. I doubt I'll be treated kindly there, but its the closest major city.” He watched her sprint ahead up the hill and shook his head with a chuckle. She sure acted like a child. 

“AHHHH—KAIDAN!!!” 

“Shit.” Sprinting up the hill after her, Kaidan cresting the top of it just as she was running back towards him at a break neck pace, a scared look in her eyes. She was being chased by two durzog. Fucking nasty creatures.

“Hang on Nara, get behind me!” Unsheathing his nodachi, Kaidan made quick work of them both, sighing as they lay dead moments later. His nose wrinkled at the smell of burning flesh as Nara had hurled a few fireballs to aid in the fight, thankfully not hitting him. 

“You alright?”

“Y-yeah..” She smiled up at him weakly and sighed, before they moved up the hill and onto the road proper. 

“Best stick close to me from now on then. You certain you're not a noble?” He asked, though it was just to tease her and the scowl on her face was worth it. 

“Thanks again, Kaidan. Let's uh, lets make our way to Windhelm then, yeah?” 

\------

It was about two hours later when they reached Windhelm. The snow had slowed them down a bit, as did the wolves and the stray goblin along the road but they made it there in one piece. Kaidan was glad she wasn't completely defenseless, but he wasn't too fond of getting set on fire; and he told her as much to which she smiled sheepishly and nodded. Such a strange woman. They were walking across the bridge towards the gate when Nara spoke up.

“So, what happened with the Thalmor?” She already knew what the answer was word for word as this wasn't her first play-through with Kaidan, but it would be weird if she didn't ask, right? Right.

“Aye, guess I owe you that. I'd been trying to find a way across the border into Pale Pass. In the meantime, I'd been picking up bounty contracts to keep some coin in my pocket. I must've drawn too much attention to myself.” Kaidan's steps slowed, pausing inside the first little alcove across the bridge. 

“I'd been camping by the lake when they ambushed me. It seems the Thalmor don't need much evidence to bring in a suspect. They took one look at that sword, decided I'd be a good target for interrogation, and dragged me off to that abandoned prison.” His expression was hardened, and serious. Nara felt sympathy well within her at the look in his eyes. They were eyes that had seen so much.

“Weren't you scared Kaidan?” Nara wiggled her toes a little bit, feeling the pads go a little numb from the cold stone, but it didn't bother her otherwise as she had fur, and the claws on her toes made closed toed shoes quite impossible she realized. 

Kaidan chuckled softly as she knew he would. “Brynjar used to say, 'If you're not a little afraid, you're not understanding the situation'. Fear I can deal with easily enough.” 

He had a look in his eye that tugged again at Nara's heart, and she swallowed hard as he continued.

“But, there was a moment or two where I started to think it really would be the end of me. The Thalmor would never have let me go, no matter what I told them.” Kaidan's gaze re-focused then, and he looked down at her, almost frowning. 

“You've faced down mortality too, though only just recently, and you'll be forever changed for it.”

Nara's brows rose slightly as he diverged from the known dialogue again, and she gulped, before nodding. She was starting to have a bad feeling about this whole thing, but she cast that feeling to the farthest depths of her mind and locked it up tight, refusing to acknowledge them; this was a dream, after all. A horrifically, lucid, twisted nightmare of a dream. 

“Anyway, let's get into the city and into the inn. Your feet must be freezing; I dunno how you stand walking around barefoot.” He began to move again towards the main gate, Nara filing behind the warrior without saying a word. 

As they approached, the guard's eyes traveled to Nara, and they both glared at her, hard. 

“Halt.” One said, holding his hand up while he looked the petite female over. 

“Aye?” Kaidan stepped forward and more in front of Nara with a quirked brow, already fed up with today and didn't have the patience for being stopped.

“Is she one of them cats? The Khajiit?” The guard asked pointing to Nara, who was frowning at the man, as she was right here.

“That's some weird khajiit if I ever saw one. She's kind of cute in the face, though.” The other guard chuckled and came beside the other, gently elbowing him in the ribs. 

Her frown deepened into a scowl, ears laying flat as she crossed her arms over her chest, looking quite unimpressed. 

“Aww look, you made her mad. Careful, she might hiss and attack your feet!” The first guard laughed, slapping the other on the shoulder. 

Kaidan glared at the two, and they settled down shortly after catching his eyes. “Can we go into the city then?” Though it was a question he was nearly growling it out. 

“Yeah, yeah go right in. I was gonna tax you for the khajiit but its just so weird lookin, I'll let you in for the entertainment alone.” 

Nara ground her teeth before she opened her mouth to say something, but Kaidan pulled her away by the shoulder, causing the two guards to start laughing all over again as they entered the city. She swore she heard a jab about a 'cute little pet kitten'. 

“Fucking pricks.” Nara growled out as the gates shut behind them.

“Yeah...I've been meaning to ask...” Kaidan seemed to feel a bit awkward asking this now, but she filled in the blanks so he didn't have to.

“I'm a subspecies of khajiit. Called an Ohmes-raht. We are born under Masser's new moon phase, and Secunda's waxing phase. Not many of us travel outside of Elsweyr; at least that I've seen.” Nara looked off to the side of where they stood, watching that dunmer woman she couldn't remember the name of getting harassed by Rolff Stone-Fist and...damn, couldn't remember his name either. She had always beaten Rolff's ass to Oblivion and back for his racist remarks, though. Her fists clenched a little as she watched the small scene, already pissed off from the guards at the gate. Kaidan noticed this, and clicked his tongue.

“Windhelm isn't exactly the nicest place to visit if you're not a Nord...someone should teach him a lesson.” 

“Okay.” Nara began stalking towards Rolff, her fists out at her sides.

“Hey, Nara I didn't mean you!” He tried to grab her arm but she slipped from his grasp and he didn't catch up to her before the khajiit was standing behind the big brute and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Yeah, what do you want?” The man turned around, and saw no one, so he looked down, then saw a small fist hurtling towards his face and it connected with his nose, sending him back a few steps.

“Why you little-!!” Rolff lunged at the little thing, swinging a fist for her, but he was drunk and staggered to the side. Nara tripped him on his way and the man fell face first onto the stone. Everyone who was around seemed frozen in either shock or awe at the little woman who dared to sucker punch Rolff. Even his friend just dumbly stood aside watching as she walked over to him, rolling up her sleeves. He had it coming though, so no one stepped in. People even started placing bets!

Kaidan snapped out of his own shock just as Nara was sat on Rolff's back and lifting his head up by a fist full of hair.

“Listen you piece of horker shit. If I catch you walkin' round here bothering the dunmer or anyone else again, I'll cut off your balls and feed them to you. Got it?!” In a fit of rage Nara slammed his face back into the stone, breaking his nose. He was out cold then, mostly from being so drunk beforehand. Watching the blood start to pool around his nose, she was realizing what she had done just as Kaidan grabbed her by the waist and picked her up. She squirmed against his grip, yelling profanities but he was far stronger than her. This woman was fucking crazy! 

He made a bee-line for Candlehearth Hall with her tucked in his arm, the woman kicking most of the way until they were inside.

“What the fuck was that, Nara?” He wheeled on her as he set her down inside. “You can't just go round starting fights like that. If a guard had seen you, they would have thrown you in jail and I couldn't stop them. I don't know how long you've been in Skyrim, but you're not a Nord. You can't just go around doing shit like that.” He spoke in hushed but angry tones, watching as ears lay flat and her puffed out tail twitched wildly behind her. She wouldn't look him in the eye. 

“He deserved it, Kaidan. He's a racist ass. The dunmer don't deserve that treatment. No one does.” Her nerves were raw from the events since waking, and to be honest she had never really lashed out like that to anyone in real life before. She had never been in a fight. Something about seeing that scene which she had seen countless times over, seeing it as if she was actually there, it just made her so mad and she snapped. Nara heard him sigh.

“You're right. He deserved it, but they'll throw you in jail in a heart beat if you go round doing that stuff, especially in Windhelm. Nara, please don't do that again.” This woman was already proving to be too much trouble. What has he gotten himself into?

“..Fine.” The small woman was still upset, but she nodded her head and moved to sit at the bar, where the Inn Keeper greeted her and took her order. Kaidan moved to sit with Nara and they shared a meal and a drink in mostly silence before getting two rooms for the night and turning in early, all things considered. 

Nara sighed as she laid down on the straw lined mattress, trying not to think of anything and will herself to sleep within her lucid dream so she could finally wake up.


	2. Waking Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nara comes to accept her reality as it is, but not without some pain, and a little bit of vague guidance from The Divines. Well--one in particular at least. Kaidan has some issues of his own through-out the day. They go on a short quest for easy septims, and Nara is blind sided by something she didn't expect to happen.

Nara groaned softly as she stirred in her usual slow fashion the next morning, propping herself up on her elbows before leaning into the curve of her spine, causing a few loud pops to come from tired bones. A dopey little smile spread over her face at the feeling, before remembering the dream last night and the smile was gone and she flopped back onto the bed.

“Geeze, what a crazy dream....” 

Laying half-awake for an unknown amount of time, she kept her eyes closed as several yawns escaped her, wondering why her cats hadn't come to snuggle with her yet. Feeling around blindly for a moment, yet still finding no cats, even when she went 'pss pss pss pss'! Deciding to give up for now, she relaxed until her stomach began to growl some time later. Yawning wide yet again she turned over on the bed, rubbing one of her eyes gently before cracking the other open to...the ceiling of CandleHearth Hall. Slowly, yet with wide eyes the woman sat up straight and looked around the room, ears twitching and swiveling as she began to pay attention to the soft sounds of morning at the inn, trying to listen to everything at once. 

She was calm. Everything was calm, and still. Then everything got hot all too quickly and she fell back into unconsciousness, having fainted from the shock of realization and her brain not being able to process it. 

The next thing that Nara became aware of was kneeling on the ground, confusion and fear weighing her heart down and creating a black hole in her chest. This can't be. This simply CANNOT be! Skyrim is a game! A GAME! She had to find her way home. She just had to wake up. Maybe if she killed herself in this nightmare she would finally wake up? Yeah, yeah that would work. Nara began to frantically look around for something sharp, but then realized she was in...nothingness. Pitch, dark, nothingness.

“Hello?” Her voice softly called out but it seemed to echo for miles, and she grimaced. She was alone. Nara sniffled, feeling hopeless and helpless. 

“Hello again my child...” A familiar voice spoke then, and Nara quickly looked up, blinking the tears from her eyes to gaze upon the avatar of Mara. 

“L-Lady Mara...” Nara choked softly on a sob as the robed figure came down to her gently, tenderly placing angelic like hands on her cheeks and ever so gently lifting her chin.

“Do not shed tears, Nara. We have brought you here, as this world needs your help. It cannot stand what is to come without you.”

The soothing voice seemed to calm her, but only slightly as her expression contorted with more confusion, and raw emotional pain. “You...you brought me here? You took me away from my home?!”

New sobs rocked the woman turned khajiit, only kept from the brink of despair by the motherly strokes of slender fingers wiping away her tears and soft hushes whispered in her mind. 

“Nara you must keep heart. Do not despair. Your home is not lost, but we needed you now, and we continue to need you in this world. Fulfill your destiny, and you will have that which you seek most..”

The visage of Lady Mara began to fade away like dust sparkling in the sunlight, Nara grasping out for her, but her hands went right through as she disappeared.

“Lady Mara! Lady Mara WAIT!! What do you mean?!” Nara fell back into a dreamless sleep then, for a time. 

\-----------

Again Nara stirred to life, but this time she wasn't alone, feeling someone gently shaking her by the shoulder. As the woman slowly woke, she began to comprehend words being spoken to her.

“--kay? Hey, wake up.”

“Hmmm? What time is it?” She mumbled for a brief moment, before her eyes shot open and she sat up swiftly, staring at the wall, almost in an unseeing fashion before swallowing hard and slowly turning to meet Kaidan standing by her bed looking a bit annoyed but somehow relieved as well. What a strange combination. He spoke to her again but she didn't hear it, despite staring at his mouth. Nara was spaced out. Then he shook her.

“Nara! Wake up!!”

“I'm awake dammit!!” The khajiit seethed, snapping at him and slapping her palms onto the furs that covered her. 

Kaidan gave her a quirk of a brow, looking at her incredulously. 

“Good. You've been asleep for two days now.” His hard expression bored into her for a moment, as she just blinked up at him with those big green eyes. “I've been trying to wake you up. I thought maybe you had come down with some infection in a wound but you weren't running hot. So no fever, and no sweats. Not even an open wound to be infected. You just, wouldn't wake.”

Nara's mind began to race as Kaidan spoke, blocking out his words. This wasn't a dream. It never had been. Oh how she had denied it so vehemently too. Her stomach turned sour thinking of that altmer she killed. That really was her actual first kill. She killed someone. She was trapped here, and she could never return home. The image of his contorted and burnt flesh came to her mind and she wanted to throw up. It was such a horrific image she wanted it to stop! She wanted to GO HOME. It was one thing when its a fantasy, but she wasn't cut out to actually BE in Skyrim. 

Silence pressed on as Nara didn't respond, still just staring up at him. The swordsman growled in annoyance. 

“Dammit Nara, wake up!” He clapped his hands together in front of her face loudly. 

That's when he saw something shift in her eyes, those jade green orbs welling up with tears before spilling over her cheeks in fat tear streaks. The sight made Kaidan instantly uncomfortable. Shit, he didn't mean to make her cry. He had been trying to make sure she wasn't going to die!

“Hey...I didn't mean to scare ya, Nara..” He furrowed his brow, and gently, yet awkwardly pat her shoulder. In the instant he touched her, Nara screamed as if she was in pain, before turning and clinging to Kaidan in her grief as he was the closest living thing to her. Resting her forehead against the belly of his armor and sobbing unabashed, her hands taking purchase where they could on his sturdy form, grasping his arm and cloak.

Kaidan stared down at the hysterical woman with wide eyes, frozen in the moment as she cried upon him and clung to him like he was her only life line in a raging sea. He wasn't sure what to say, so he decided to stay silent in the end, and let her cry upon him and shed all her sorrows. 

\---------

Nara had been inconsolable for at least an hour, and Kaidan stayed the entire time, having shifted to sit on the bed and sit her in his lap, stroking her hair idly in an attempt to soothe; even convincing her to eat some soup as he knew she hadn't eaten in a few days. Every attempt to try and get her to talk about what ailed her was futile, she just kept repeating something about a dream and how it was hopeless over and over. 

“I'm..s-sorry..” Nara almost choked out, tears still flowing down her face though it was the hoarse voice she was having issue with now, no longer physically able to sob; the tears just came involuntarily. 

“Hey, what have you got to be sorry about?” Kaidan was confused, as he figured maybe he did something that he wasn't realizing to have set this off somehow. He never was too good with people. 

“I didn't mean to cry..so much..” An awkward chuckle filled the air, Nara looking at her hands as she played with the furs draped over her knees.

“Well it was...uh..” Kaidan cleared his throat again, “What's troublin' you then?” He leaned down a little bit, trying to get a better look at her eyes, which were now reddened and puffy. 

“I can't..” Nara coughed around the words, having some difficulty, but she raised a hand to indicate she wanted to say this so to be patient. 

“I don't think I can ever go back home.” She looked at him with such a sad broken look in her eyes he didn't know what to do. It pulled at his heart, twisting it painfully in his chest.

“I don't understand Nara. Are you in some sort of trouble back in Elsweyr?” Maybe she was a wanted criminal. Not like he could judge for someone's past though, so he patiently waited for an answer.

“I just can't return home and I...I realized that when I woke up. I'm stuck in Skyrim.” How could she tell him? 'I'm from the future, or at least a different world where you're just a fictional character made up of a bunch of ones and zeros yet the Divines of the VIDEO GAME needed to borrow me for a quest, so they just RIPPED me from my home and brought me here indefinitely?!' Nara bit her lip at that, snorting. Yeah, that would go over SO well. Gods, she was crazy. 

The last portion of what Lady Mara said echoed in her head then: Fufill your destiny and you shall have that which you seek most. The petite woman sniffled softly then, thinking about it. So she could go back home? There was a way. She just had to what, be the Dragonborn again, but for REAL? Nara wanted to laugh. This had to be a sick joke. Glancing at Kaidan she could see the clear worry etched into the warrior's features and it tugged at her sore heart. She blinked some tears away, focusing her eyes on him again. 

“I'm sorry if I caused you trouble, Kaidan.” 

A large gloved hand came to gently pat her on the head, the weight feeling oddly comforting.

“Hey, you're the one who's hurting here. Don't apologize for grieving for a lost home.” He ever so slowly shifted her from his lap on onto the bed again, which she mumbled a thanks to.“Do you have any family out there?”

Nara sniffled softly as she thought about her cats Jinx and Hex. Beyond them she didn't really have anyone. She was the pariah of the family on a good day. “I do but, they're far far away..I don't think I'll ever see them again..we're not on...the best terms.” Not that they would even miss her while she was gone if she did see them. 

“Perhaps with time those bridges can be mended, or perhaps it was the right decision to walk away.”   
He watched her for a moment, wishing he knew how best to help.

“Do you want to talk about it..your family, I mean?”

“Uh..n-not today, Perhaps another time. Thank you.” She tried to give Kaidan a cheerful smile, but it ended up looking sad.

“Hey, fair enough. At the very least let's get you out of this room, get some more food in you and a proper bath, aye?”

Nara nodded with another little sniffle before standing and following Kaidan out of the room.

\---------

Several hours later found Nara squeaky clean from head to toe and a full belly, Kaidan having insisted she eat another meal to make up for the lost days. Catching gentle whiffs of the lavender scent her hair and fur now carried, Nara was thankful that the people of Skyrim made hair soap and hair oils. While they were expensive items, she had gladly traded some of her things with the merchant for them. She was not in a good place emotionally, that's for sure, but she was in a better place. 

“So Nara, I don't want to worry you but..” They were out in the market district and Nara was idly perusing items. Hearing him trail off she looked up at him over her shoulder, a patient look in her eyes and a silent question.

“We're getting low on funds. Now, I can go back to hunting bounties, but I don't think I could take you along with me and guarantee your safety. What was it you did before you ended up in that cell?” The swordsman looked down at her, catching the soft scent of lavender on cold winter air and he breathed deep and slow. It suited her. Kaidan quickly pushed that thought to the back of his head, out of the way.

Nara looked down at a shield she was tracing the engraving of with a finger while she thought what to tell him. She was just a waitress back home. She didn't make a lot, unless it was a holiday or during the summers, but she made enough. 

“I was a bar maid.” Not a lie per say, but not the truth, and she glared at the shield. She hated lying. 

“Will you go back to that?” While he had intended to travel with her, the life he lead was dangerous, and involved dangerous people; Nara wasn't skilled in the ways of battle. She was so...small and looked so fragile. It would be safer if she just went back to that. He could stick close, pick up bounties in the area, check in on her and still repay his debt that way while continuing his search. 

“...No.”

“What will you do then? Take up a trade?” Kaidan quirked a brow curiously then, watching her fiddle with the shield. Maybe she was good with her hands? She could be a good smith with the right teacher. 

“I'll take up adventuring.” 

A vague answer, but it was better than saying that she knew there was about an 80% chance she was the Dragonborn or that the Divines need her to fulfill some destiny they neglected to give the details of! Nara turned away from the stall then, as the merchant was glaring her down either for fiddling with the shield so long, or her appearance. She didn't care either way. Looking up to Kaidan, again she saw that incredulous look on his face.

“Are you sure that's wise, Nara? You only recently killed your first, and it's not an easy life...” Kaidan sighed through his nose. This girl wasn't cut out for the harsh lands of Skyrim. 

“Then teach me.” The serious expression the khajiit wore caught Kaidan a bit off guard, brows rising in mild amusement. 

“Teach you? I'm not a good instructor sadly.” He was trying to let her down easy. Kaidan also didn't know why the thought of her risking life and limb bothered him so. He tried to snuff out that feeling as he looked down at her. So small, yet so full of determination. 

“Then just show me the basics. That's all I'm asking of you, Kaidan. Then you are free to leave my service. I will consider the debt paid.” 

He wanted to tell her no, wanted to try and push her onto a less dangerous path, but looking into those big green eyes, filled with a stubborn fire that refused to be put out completely...his resolve broke. He was soft. 

“All right, all right. I'll teach you, but I'm not just gonna show you the basics. I need you to be able to actually take care of and fend for yourself.” The soft smile he got in return caught his eye, and he couldn't help but smile back.

“Thank you, Kaidan.” 

“Yeah...no problem.”

They made their way into the gray quarter after selling off anything they didn't need, intent to see if the general shop had any smaller pieces of armor that might fit Nara since a custom set was too expensive for now. On the way way down the street, a little girl came bounding up to them, a basket full of flowers on her arm and a rather cheerful smile.

“Hey lady, would you like to buy some flowers? Please?”

Nara looked to the child, and smiled sadly as she recognized her as Sofie. Nara had always adopted as many children as she could, usually all the urchin children up to six, as mods wouldn't let her adopt any more than that.

Nara took a look at the flowers in Sofie's basket. They were wilted, frost bitten from the cold wind, and partly dried out. They would be sub-par alchemy ingredients at best.

“I'll take them all child.” The look in Sofie's eyes caused a tightness in the khajiit's chest. If she had property, she would offer to adopt Sofie in a heart beat, the girl was so sweet. 

“Really? Oh thank you! What's your name? I'm Sofie!” She giggled as she handed all of the flowers off to Nara, who gave her coin in return with a few extra just because, though Sofie didn't realize at the time. 

“My name is Nara. This is my friend, Kaidan. It's a pleasure to meet you Sofie.” Nara knelt down before looking at the bundle of flowers tucked ever so gently in her arm like the most beautiful bouquet. Taking the best of the bunch, she gently tucked it behind the girl's ear, who looked at her with curiosity. 

“You are beautiful, just like the flowers you carry, Sofie.” The khajiit hadn't been expecting the sudden hug from the little girl, and she frowned, tears welling in her eyes again, but she didn't let them fall, tenderly hugging the girl with one arm. “You take care of yourself Sofie. I want to see you again next time I am in Windhelm.”

“You're so nice Nara. I'm so glad I met you. I hope I see you again soon, I'm going to go pick more flowers to sell. Bye Kaidan, bye Nara!” With that, the girl ran off.

Kaidan who had been silent through the whole exchange, watched Sofie disappear before blinking down at Nara. “That was very generous of you.” 

Most tended to ignore the urchin children in the streets, or give them a spare coin when they could, but Nara treated that girl as if she were her own. It was unexpected, to say the least. She was so kind, and considerate. Polite too; to a fault even. It caused a smile to cross Kaidan's lips looking at the little thing who had a heart bigger than her own body. No..this was trouble. The smile faded before Nara turned to face him. 

“She lives a hard life, and yet she wears such a genuine smile. Children are precious things that should be cherished and protected.” Nara sniffled softly, before standing again and continuing to 'Sadri's Used Wares'. Kaidan said nothing, just following behind her silently, mulling over his own thoughts. 

As they entered, Nara nodded her head to the Dumner behind the counter.

“Welcome to Sadri's Used Wares. Got something for just about everybody here. Give a holler if you have any questions.” The man went back to the shelves for the moment while they looked around. 

Nara and Kaidan looked over the pieces of armor that were on display, eventually finding a chain mail shirt that was small enough to fit the woman, but still large enough to cover what needed to be. They also found an under shirt to prevent chaffing of the skin and a light leather corset piece with an attached skirt to go on top for some extra protection. Nara also picked out a pair of trousers, and some proper fitting gloves. Still however, she forewent shoes of any kind. He glared at her feet a moment. That would have to change. Gently gathering everything together into a neat pile, Nara took everything over to the counter and gently set it all down while Kaidan looked at other things with mild interest. 

“All of my goods here are legitimate, nothing is stolen here. That's more than some can say.”

Nara quirked a brow, knowing why this dialogue came up, as she remembered the quest for him, but in reality it was such an off thing to just say. She smiled kindly at him. 

“That is very good to hear. Sadly many in the gray quarter are treated unfairly, and get less than they deserve. How do you ensure you are not unknowingly taking in stolen goods as well from your suppliers?” She batted her eyelashes in what she hoped gave her an innocent and curious expression.

It was more...tactful than the vanilla option to start the quest, but the way his soft smile fell told Nara she said the right thing.

“OH by Azura I've made a terrible mistake. I bought a gold ring, and Viola Giodano is missed a ring that looks just like it.” The worry on his face was clear, and he began to look around a bit frantically, perhaps wondering what else of his goods were stolen property.

“I can get that ring returned for you, if you would like?” Nara gently patted the pile of armor she had set on the counter. Kaidin rose a brow and looked over at Nara, questioning look on his face. The Dunmer's brows rose and he shook his head. 

“Its not that easy. She would go straight to the Jarl if she knew I was even remotely involved. You'll have to get it to her some other way.” He tapped at his chin a moment before a hopeful look came on his face. “Look, its dangerous, but if you sneak the ring into her house...put it in a dresser or something!” He looked to Nara's hand still on the pile of armor pieces.

“I will make it worth your while.” 

“Now hold on--” Kaidan moved over to protest as he didn't much like the idea of breaking into some woman's house when its the Dunmer's fault he wasn't looking into his sources more carefully, but Nara cut him off.

“We'll do it. Ring if you please.” Nara held out her hand, and soon the ring was in her padded palm. She smiled, before turning to Kaidan and nearly grinned up at his annoyed expression. “Let's go.” With a gentle wave to the Dunmer and promises they would be back, Nara left the shop with Kaidan in tow, but the swordsman wasn't very happy. 

“Hey, Nara. Remember what I said about doing stuff that could get you put in jail? Breaking into someone's house is pretty high up that list!” He kept his voice low but it was clear he was a bit miffed that she just decided to help the Dunmer, without even asking what his thoughts on it were. Though, he realized she didn't owe him that. He was the one who owed her. He sighed.

“Fine, let's just...get this over with.” The smile Nara gave him seemed quite satisfied and he chuckled, patting her head. “You look better with a smile, Nara.” The khajiit grinned wider before heading off into the city.

It had taken some talking to a few people and asking for directions, as she didn't quite remember where the house was, but soon they were standing outside, Kaidan fidgeting slightly in place.

“I don't like this Nara. We shouldn't do this. Let's just go take the ring to the steward, say we found it on the street, or just take it back to that Dunmer, let him deal with his own mess.”

She turned back to look at him, smiling in an understanding manner. “I'll do it then. You stay here and keep watch.”

“Wait, that's not what I—fine! But you better be back out here quick.” Kaidan grumbled internally, turning around to watch the streets as he leaned up casually against a nearby stone wall. 

Nara was able to pick the lock after some fiddling, grateful she didn't break any picks this time. With a soft sigh of relief she entered the house and crouched down. Her ears swiveled about, listening internally to all of the small little sounds throughout the house. She could hear a draft, water dripping from somewhere, and little mice scurrying about, but no people. They must be all out of the house, as it was about mid-day still. Luckily there was a dresser just inside of the door to the right and Nara deposited the ring in there before exiting the house and returning to Kaidan who nodded curtly. “Let's keep moving.”

Upon returning to the shop, the Dunmer smiled in hope, before approaching the counter and leaning forward to whisper, despite no one else being in the store. “Have you taken care of that...little problem?”

“It's done. I planted the ring in her house.”

“Thank you! Thank you! Azura's prophecy always guide you to good fortune!” He reached behind the counter and pulled out a decently sized coin pouch, setting it upon the pieces of armor she picked out, and he pushed them all forward. 

“Speaking of good fortune, here. It's everything I made from my last shipment, and you can just take those items, on the house. It's yours.”

Nara was about to protest that he was offering too much for such a simple task, but the warm and grateful look in his eyes broke her resolve to say anything. The khajiit gave a tight smile and nodded, before taking the pile and heading back outside after tossing the bag of septims to Kaidan, which he took a peek inside of.

“That's a decent amount by the looks of it, should keep us for at least another week...good job, Nara.” He was mainly just glad that neither of them got caught, but it had been worth the coin that he now carried back to Candlehearth Hall with them. 

Once inside they decided to take a rest and grab a light meal and a drink. They took a table on the second floor in a little corner where Kaidan could see everyone enter or leave this area of the Inn. 

Nursing her mug of ale as she wasn't very hungry, Nara looked around at everyone enjoying their own meal and drink, company even. Her eyes slid to Kaidan, and she leaned forward slightly.

“I'd like to know, what are you doing in Skyrim?” The questioning look he gave her caused the khajiit to fidget and chuckle, ears drooping a bit. “I-if thats okay.”

“Well...I've spent a long time wandering. This is where my feet have lead me.” He paused to take a sip from his own mug, before looking into the fire nearby. 

Nara smiled softly as she knew he would leave it at that if she didn't press him. “There is more to it than that, surely Kaidan?”

He chuckled, “Aye, isn't there always? To..own the truth, I've come back to Skyrim to learn something of my heritage, my bloodline.” Kaidan took a moment to settle into the chair a bit better, the wood creaking before he continued. 

“The few clues that I have pointed me here. But it takes time to decode. So, I'm paying my way by collecting bounties.”

Nara nodded softly, looking at him with a curious expression over the rim of her mug as she sipped on the ale. She studied his face, really studied it, able to see so much detail that the game's engine really can't convey. 

“You...don't really look like a Nord? Have you no family to ask?” 

“Well, aren't you observant. I was raised by a Nord, and as one...but no, that Atmoran ice doesn't run in my veins. I can't be certain what does. I got no family left either that I'm aware of, unless there is some bloodkin out there, but again, I wasn't ever made aware of any.”

“So you do not know your race? What about racial gifts?”

“I have no Voice of the Emperor, or Dragonskin magics. I don't even know the race of my mother...all I have is a hunch. But I need proof.”

“Hey, Kaidan?” Nara swirled the contents of her tankard a few times, before looking up at him, waiting for his attention. Soon enough crimson gaze met pale green, and he looked at her curiously. 

“Yeah?”

“Since you're going to be teaching me anyway while we travel, what about if I help you find out more about your bloodline?” Nara slowly tilted back her mug, waiting for him to accept her help.

“No, I don't think so Nara. Thank you though, I appreciate the gesture; really.”

Say what now? The khajiit inhaled her ale down her windpipe in shock and began coughing, pounding on her chest with a fist to clear her air pipe while Kaidan stood up to gently pat her on the back.

“Easy there, Nara. Take it slow.”

She stared at Kaidan, replaying what he said to her. This wasn't supposed to happen. He didn't say this! He always accepted the help saying that they would find more information on their travels; why was it DIFFERENT????

“Y-you don't want me to help you? Kaidan?” Worry etched into her features, and a little bit of hurt to be honest. She really liked Kaidan as a character, what was different that made him not want her help this time through??

Kaidan sighed, taking a seat again and shaking his head, “No, it's not that its..” He was terrified she would get hurt because of his personal burden to bare. He chose this quest for knowledge. 

“Never mind just, don't worry yourself over my problems, Nara. You've got a lot to deal with on your own.” The swordsman looked down into his mug of ale, not wanting to look up to see sad green eyes staring at him, because he would break and fold. 

“A-alright Kaidan.” She sighed softly, thinking to change the subject and move away from the now awkward air. “Hey uhm, so when did you want to start my lessons?”

Kaidan did look up at her then, having almost entirely forgotten about that. “We can start tomorrow, if you think you're ready for it, Nara. I'm not gonna go easy on you though. Fair waning.”

“I wouldn't have it any other way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Sugoitoi here!
> 
> Once again I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I really hope this one is okay because I wrote this one with literally ZERO sleep. I've been up since around 8:00 am on 10/23/2020. Anywhooo, I'm still trying to decide if I want to just make even longer chapters or keep them to about this length. This chapter only covered one side quest, but covered a lot more character wise. Leave comments and kudos if you like.
> 
> Ta Ta for now!


	3. Learning The Hard Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nara starts her training with Kaidan, does the quest for Nurelion to find The While Phial, makes a discovery she had a big hunch on already, and has some thoughts as to how to really spend her time in Skyrim before Alduin reared his head.

Nara panted heavily as her body propelled her forward, lungs burning with the cold winter air of each desperate breath. A sheen of chilled sweat clung to her brow, and muscles screamed, but she pressed on. Looking to Kaidan who was easily out-pacing her, she growled softly. He looked back at her curiously, not even breaking a sweat. She wanted to wipe that look of his face!

“Oi, don't quit now, we've still got seven more laps.” 

“SEVEN?!” The khajiit exclaimed, nearly tripping but managed to catch herself and not lose pace.

“I told you I wasn't going to go easy on you.”

Nara panted and huffed, trying to keep up her current pace as they ran through the empty streets of Windhelm in the early morning before most were even awake. It was the same route the city guards took apparently, but they were doing a ridiculous amount of laps compared to the guards training, in her opinion.

“T-time out..I...need..a..b-breather!” Nara gasped for breath as she came to a stop, bending over to lean on her knees with her heart pounding in her throat, dripping sweat which only caused her to shiver slightly as a wind came by. 

Kaidan slowed down after hearing this, before turning around to run back towards her. Looking up at him, the only evidence he had been running too was the barely formed sheen on his forehead, and the way his veins seemed to expand under his skin a little. She heard him chuckle and she wanted to wipe that look off his face yet again. “Alright, you can catch your breath but then no more stopping. You're not doing too bad actually.” He said with a tilt of his head while watching her huff and puff, slightly worried she might lose her stomach. 

Nara had been on the track team in high school, but like a lot of adults, once she entered college and began working, she sort of just stopped as she wasn't good enough to get a sports scholarship or anything. Her first year was when Skyrim came out actually, and that's when she stopped really exercising regularly; and now she was paying for it. After catching her breath, the khajiit took a slow, deep breath and met Kaidan's crimson gaze for a moment. Her body hurt, lungs ached, but she had to do this. This body wasn't strong, and it needed to be for what was to come. She had to make it home. A nod was the signal she was ready to continue, and so they did. By some miracle, Nara was able to complete the rest of the laps without needing to stop, but she never kept pace with the large man. 

The rest of his tasks over the week were just as brutal, having her lift loose stones repeatedly, putting her through plenty of body weight exercises and working on her reflexes by randomly swinging at her, though not hard, and he even got a few of the locals in on this. The Nords were probably all too happy to take a swing at her, hoping they could hit the weird khajiit. Luckily all of her time spent playing video games seemed to have improved her normal reflexes, and she only managed to get tripped while coming around the corner one time. She was sore from head to toe and most nights just collapsed into the bed like a rock. Nara had been keeping her eyes peeled for Rolff to rear his ugly head again, but apparently he was keeping quiet and out of sight. That made her suspicious. Maybe she would tell Kaidan later.

Back at CandleHearth Hall, after another grueling round of laps around the city, it took the khajiit woman near everything in her not to just wolf down her breakfast and her mug of ale. Looking at the half empty mug a moment she chuckled. Ale for breakfast; how shameful this would be in her world. She was lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Kaidan sneaking glances at her all the while. He was once again, surprised at the little thing's determination. Kaidan had really pushed this one, in an attempt to have her give up on this path; maybe once she saw she couldn't handle it she would stop and go do something safer. But, she just showed him again that little flame couldn't be truly put out. A tiny hand covered in fuzz waving in his face caught his attention then.

“Hmm?” Kaidan re-focused his gaze on Nara, who had a brow raised in curiosity. 

“I said I haven't heard anything from that guy I beat up. Rolff I think I heard someone call him.” Nara looked away as she lied about how she knew his name. “I haven't even seen him. It's suspicious.” 

“Hey, he's probably just off with his tail between his legs, but..” Pausing to take a drink of his ale and finish it off. “We'll keep an eye out.”

“Thank you, Kaidan.” Nara smiled softly at him, before returning to her breakfast and finishing it off as they sat in companionable silence. 

A little later found them walking towards The White Phial, Nara keeping an easy pace along the way.

“So why are we headed here again?”

“I overheard some people saying the owner was fussing about something he needed help with. It could be some more easy coin.” They weren't quite hurting for coin, but more coin never hurt anyone, and Kaidan hadn't started picking up bounties. Nara would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't a little bit worried about doing the more dangerous quests for real. This one in particular had a nasty fight at the end, but there was also a word wall...and she needed to know.

Before even entering the shop, Nara's ears picked up the muffled sound of their voices. Ah, perfect timing then. Upon entering, the two of them stopped talking however, and Nara blinked. Well..this would get a bit awkward. She watched the Altmer approach the counter, a harsh glare on his face either from suffering the ignorance of the Nords, or maybe he just didn't like people it was the later, if she remember right. Nurelion did began his usual coughing fit however, which was when the assistant came over to keep him standing.

“Are you alright?” Nara took this opportunity to try and get the quest ball rolling. 

“My master is sick, he shouldn't even be out of bed.” The assistant...Quintus she believed gave a look of motherly disapproval up at Nurelion. 

“I'll be fine..” He weakly protested through his coughing fit. 

Well it wasn't like in the game, but it was close enough, she unfortunately had to fudge this a bit, and mentally prepared herself. 

“I noticed your shop is named The While Phial...” Nara gave it a moment, trying to give an almost doe -eyed look at them both.

“What about it?” Nurelion coughed again, but seemed to give her more of his attention. 

“I heard a rumor that you're looking for it...” The khajiit woman tried to give an innocently curious expression. Kaidan watched the whole thing silently, arms over his chest and eyes staring at Nara. 

The confused look on Nurelion's and Quintus's face didn't bode any confidence. “How could you possibly have heard that? I haven't spoken about that to anyone save for Quintus. Are you a spy?” Nurelion began another coughing fit, Quintus now glared at Nara for working him up.

“I'm not a spy, do you want help or not?” Nara glared, already fed up with trying to tip toe around things like she was playing The Game at an Orlaisian party. She understood their caution, especially if unlike the game people didn't have private conversations in front of total strangers. 

Quintus tore his angry gaze from the khajiit woman, then looked at his master for a moment, seeming to have a silent conversation through eye contact before he nodded just slightly and stood back from Nurelion, as the Altemer's coughing fit seemed to have stopped for the moment.

“So are you looking to use it then? You want to take credit for finding it? Well I won't let you.” He was glaring at her angrily, though a glance over her shoulder and he eased up a bit. Kaidan stood just behind her, a hard look in his eyes. 

Nara scoffed, waving her hand dismissively, “No, you can take all of the credit. I'm just trying to help you find the thing. Accept my help or don't.” The quest came with a tidy little sum, but she didn't mention that of course. Pay later; if they survived.

“..It's good to know there are still some people willing to help an old man.” A light coughing fit this time and a little wheezing, but he still stood. “It's buried in a cave to the west of here, you have a map? I can mark the location for you.” Odd that he didn't mention Curalmil, but she let it slide. Getting the map from her pack, she unrolled it onto the table while he marked it, chancing a look up at Kaidan, nearly wincing. He wasn't happy. Nara sighed internally and looked back to the map as Nurelion finished before she rolled it up again and stuffed the map gingerly in proper place. “Oh and one more thing.” The grumpy Altmer caught her attention again and he gently with tired old hands placed a rather sizable phial on the counter from behind the counter. “You'll need this to get into the chamber where it's kept. This is my life's work, so don't lose it!” 

“Wouldn't dream of it.” She smiled tightly at his rudeness before taking the phial just as gently and placing it in her pack among some spare garments so it wouldn't get broken. “We will be back with the phial.” With that, Nara and Kaidan left. As she expected, Kaidan didn't let her get far before he whorled her around by the shoulder to look into crimson eyes that held no small amount of suspicion.

“You said you overheard a rumor, but he said he never told anyone. So what's the truth, Nara? How did you know about it?” Kaidan had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something was off, and he wanted to know what. 

Nara took in a deep breath and let out a sigh. She didn't want to lie to Kaidan, but she couldn't tell him the real truth. “I can't.” She simply mumbled out.

“What was that?”

“I said I can't!”

“Can't what??”

“I can't tell you, Kaidan.”

“And why not?”

“You wouldn't understand.” She looked up at him sadly, ears flopped to the sides of her head. 

“Try me.”

Nara shook her head and wiggled out of his grip on her shoulder. “I can't. I might some day, but please just let it go for now. I'm not a spy, and I certainly don't want to hurt him or misuse what he's after. I just want to help.” The khajiit sighed again, taking a chance. “We've all got things that aren't worth talking about.” 

Kaidan was silent for a long few moments, seemingly searching her face for something, and looking into her misty green eyes for some form of falsehood. But he could find none, just deeply troubled and sad looking eyes. The eyes that always made him soft. He sighed and stood up straight, looking down at her. 

“Fine. I'll let it go. For now.”

\-------------

An hour later and the two were leaving Windhelm, Nara in her new gear as well as sporting a simple steel dagger for added protection since she only really knew how to use magic. 

“Hey Kaidan, will you also teach me how to use a bow?” She offered a look at him as they crossed the bridge.

“Yes. And a blade.” He nodded, keeping his eyes forward. “You've got a lot to learn, but you seem to be a fast learner, so shouldn't be too difficult.” Kaidan grew silent then, retreating into his own thoughts.

The path to the cave wasn't filled with much incident save for two small groups of Rieklings which they easily dispatched, Nara casting fire from a safe distance, and Kaidan using his bow or sword to finish them off. They even ran into M'aiq the Liar, which Nara seemed to be happy about, listening to some of his opinions on various things before parting. 

“May you walk on warm sands.” They both said in parting before continuing on, and before long the two arrived at the cave. The temperature seemed to drop a significant amount as they entered, Nara glad she had fur but shivered just slightly anyway, being careful of how she stepped on the ice and snow within the cave.

“Nara, I asked you before but you didn't answer: why don't you wear shoes?” Kaidan took the time to light a torch while they were at the entrance of the cave.

“It just feels more natural I suppose...besides the claws of my feet would make any close toed shoe quite uncomfortable.”

“I hadn't thought of that..” He glanced at her claws then. “You could at least get something with an open front made that still provides protection.” 

Looking back at Kaidan she nodded. “I could. Maybe I will when we can afford to commission me a proper set of armor. For now. Let us press on.” 

As they entered further into the cave, Nara's ears turned to a sound she really didn't want to and groaned softly. Kaidan looked at her curiously, slowing to her side and spoke in hushed tones, “What is it? What can you hear?” 

“A troll.” The khajiit took a slow deep breath, keeping herself calm. She had fire magic. She didn't have to get up close, this would be fine. It wasn't a person. It was a wild animal. A very aggressive, dangerous wild animal.

“Don't let it get close enough to swing at you, they're nasty buggers.” Kaidan handed the torch off to Nara so he could use his bow to bait its aggression and attention on him. Things were going fine, until the second troll came from further in the cave.

“Shit! Kaidan look out!” The swordsman caught the sight of the second troll and cursed before switching to his sword. 

“Nara, you hang back!”

“And let you get hurt? No way!” Nara was scared but she hurled fireball after fireball at the two young frost trolls, helping to wear them down significantly so that Kaidan could run both of them through with his sword. After the short battle was over, Nara sighed, leaning on her knee, sweating lightly. 

“You alright?” Kaidan jogged back over to her, watching as she downed a magicka potion.

“Yeah I'm fine, just not used to using so much magicka.” She vaguely wondered if she could benefit from going to the college at some point. 

“Just be careful, alright?” 

Another nod and they were off again, further into the cave. “Kaidan do you know how to skin an animal?” She looked back to him to see a nod as they walked along, Nara pausing to check a few large urns, though she didn't find anything. “Great, if it won't take long, do you think we can skin these trolls on the way back? Their furs may net a few extra septims.” 

“I'll see what I can do.”

“Thank you, Kaidan.” Nara pushed open the iron doors with some grunting and help from Kaidan, who chuckled at her struggling. She refused to look at him, hiding her embarrassed flush before practically stomping ahead. Surprisingly the braziers within were lit, and she blinked. Could that theory she read be true? That the draugr were caretakers of the crypt and that was why the candles were lit in the game in places that were supposed to be in ruin. Her ears swiveled about, keeping an ear out for any sounds that were out of the ordinary from the sounds of dripping and the occasional settling of stone. Moving down the stairs and coming to a hallway lined with urns on either side and a chest at the end, she heard the strange undead 'breathing' of a draugr ahead. Looking back to Kaidan she pointed at the corner and signaled to be quiet. He silently nodded and did his best though his heavy armor would make noise no matter how quiet the warrior tried to be. The draugr gave a ghostly growl and came around the corner wielding a long and ancient battle axe when they got close, but Kaidan was ready and impaled the creature on his blade watching as those glowing eyes seemed to fizzle out of existence before the other draugr came around the corner with a knocked arrow drawn, taking aim for Nara and let it fly. She managed to duck before blasting it with fire and it crumpled to the floor before a nasty stench filled the air, causing her to gag and breathe through her mouth. Kaidan lifted his foot and pushed the draugr off his blade which fell into a heap on the floor beside the other. Turning to the chest, Nara flipped it open and found nothing much really, sad to find a few potion bottles that looked more than likely rancid with the grey off colour inside. Again, realistically, this made sense. At least there were a few gold coins which she happily took and stuffed into her pack.

“I can hear more ahead, keep your weapon ready.” Nara cautioned with a little huff before moving on, stepping over the corpses of the draugr. She felt nauseated but forced herself to move. Everything smelled horrible and the sight of the draugr was truly more horrific in person, but she reminded herself they were already dead and merely husks used to guard the crypts. Entering another hallway, Nara was ready for the draugr that tried to swing an axe at her face, turning him to a crisp with her flames, but she wasn't ready for the second draugr down the stairs which released an arrow that hit her in the shoulder. 

“FUCK!!” Nara doubled over, dropping the torch as Kaidan rushed forth to behead the draugr with a war cry and the swipe of his sword. He instantly turned around and ran back to her.

“Nara are you alright? Hey, just stay calm. Be still.” He looked at the arrow sticking out of her shoulder and grimaced. It was bleeding a little bit, but it clearly missed anything vital. They would have to have it removed and the wound cleaned as any arrows the draugr used had to be filthy. The soft glow and sound of healing magic caught his attention and he watched her body force the arrow out before the wound sealed up, only leaving now drying streams of blood in its wake as evidence. He had forgotten she could do that.

“I'm...fine..” Nara gritted as she concentrated on healing the wound from the inside outwards, huffing at the pain of the arrow exiting the wound, but she bared it, not wanting to slow them down because of this. She didn't want to give him reason to worry, or to think she wasn't capable. She wasn't capable, but she would be in time. She had to. “Let's move forward, I'm alright.” Nara offered Kaidan a tight smile as she stood and it seemed he reluctantly nodded after a moment.

Kaidan insisted he take the lead from that point forward, not having much issue cutting down the two draugr in the next room while Nara offered help from afar. Once the draugr lay still, she moved towards the side room, having spotted a book on the table. Her hands brushed the cover as she read the title, 'The Mirror'. This was one of those skill books if she remembered right, but would reading it actually offer any guidance?

“You could take that if you wanted, could just be a good read.” Kaidan stood behind her, peering over her shoulder. The khajiit nodded and took the book before stuffing it in her pack. 

Nara unlocked the door to the left down some stairs, taking her time as she only had the one pick left but had it done soon. She was getting good at this. Smiling to herself a bit as they ascended the staircase after finding some coins and a few small gems, Nara had another thought. Maybe joining the thieves guild would be profitable as well? However, Nara couldn't imagine doing everything like in any given play through, thinking of the Companions and the Dark Brotherhood. That also left her to wonder what would happen if she didn't interfere? Would the boy Aventus Arentino eventually give up performing the black sacrament and go back to Honor Hall, or would Astrid or some other member finally hear word and do it themselves? Would Skjor die if she wasn't there to set things in motion? Does that mean Kodlak would still live as well? Wondering aside, if she would be here for a time, she had to choose which skills to hone and which ones to just leave be. The khajiit had already decided on magic as one of her main skills since she didn't have to worry about being disarmed by an opponent or any shouts that might come her way. As they progressed, the two easily dispatched of more draugr, avoided traps, and collected anything that was worth their time. They had taken at least two breaks for Nara's sake, as she had to catch her breath and replenish her magicka stores. Why couldn't these tombs be littered with /usable/ potions and treasure like it was in the game? She huffed.

“You don't have to do this you know.” Kaidan's voice spoke softly, pulling her from her thoughts.

“But I want to do this.” In truth she didn't, but she had to. “How else will I become an adventurer if I can't even clear out some draugr?”

Kaidan stared at her for a moment, glancing to her shoulder where the arrow had been embedded not long ago. She may be small, but she was no child despite his first impressions; he couldn't protect her from the world. He had no right. It was her decision. The swordsman sighed softly. “Fair enough, Nara. Just don't push yourself too hard, aye?”

The petite khajiit nodded and stood, having rested for long enough. Her ears twitched and swiveled in the direction ahead of them. She could hear it. A faint chanting. It was the word wall. “I think we are getting close to the end.” Nara let out a slow breath, knowing the fight that was to come. Hopefully she didn't die in it. Some Dragonborn that would be. 

“Just stick close.” Kaidan reminded her before unsheathing his blade and taking the lead again, through an iron door which housed the main tomb chamber on the other side of some swinging axe trap. It must've been triggered when the door opened.

“I've got this.” Nara stepped forward and got down onto the ground, and crawled. Kaidan wouldn't be able to do this without getting hit but luckily she was small enough to crawl under them with still a foot or two of clearance above her. Trying not to think of the sharp blades she crawled past them as quickly as she could, before standing to pull the chain and deactivate the trap with a smile towards Kaidan who looked relieved that she didn't get injured. That's when the lid to the coffin blew off, and she instantly stopped smiling. 

“Nara get behind me!” She heard Kaidan's voice as he ran past her, sword out. She watched as the draugr climbed out of the coffin. It was Curalmil. He gave a demonic sounding growl, seeming to peer right into her soul with those glowing eye-lights of his before lifting his word to point the tip of the blade her way. Nara felt rooted to the spot for a moment, before hearing other draugr come from the sides of the room. The chanting of the word wall seemed to be getting ever louder as she sprung into action, like a chant of war to rally the forces. Flames sprung forth from her hands, having tossed the torch to the side so she could use both. Gritting her teeth, Nara took down both of the draugr just as they about reached her. 

“Look out!” Kaidan yelled and got her attention. Curalmil was coming straight at her, having zeroed in on her from the start despite Kaidan's blows. Nara screamed, and raised her hands, sending streams of fire at the draugr, though this one didn't go down as easily, despite catching flame and beginning to burn. She thought she was going to get cleaved in two when Curalmil raised his sword above his head, and her magicka was now spent, only the brief flicker of a flame came to her panicked call as she backed against a wall. Nara sent a silent prayer to the heavens and made peace in that moment. She waited for the blow, but instead Kaidan's sword ripped through the draugr's sternum, the tip only a few feet from her own face, spraying dust from ancient bone and long since dried blood over her. Nara watched the eye-lights fade from Curalmil's sockets and his body went limp, before the sword clattering to the floor with a deafening clang. 

Kaidan shook the corpse from his blade off to the side before looking at Nara, again she could see worry clearly etched into his features before it turned angry. “You just froze up again Nara! You can't do that.” He berated her, and she let him. “I can't always come to your aid. You have to be able to handle your own.” He offered his hand out to help her up, as at some point, she slid down onto the ground. Nara took it and simply nodded; clearly shaken.

Her heart pounded, at no point helped by the loud chanting still ringing in her ears. A look at Kaidan showed he couldn't hear it at all. Her eyes drifted towards the word wall, and she saw a single word glow in that same eerie colour as the draugr eyes, ribbons of lift cascading off the wall towards her, trying to link with her form. Nara slowly approached, not taking her eyes off of the word as she ascended the stairs, slowly bringing her hand out to touch the stone that was waiting to pass on its knowledge. Licking suddenly dry lips, she touched the wall, fur standing on end when the chanting suddenly came to a halt. For a moment, she felt like nothing might happen, green eyes studying the word and then she felt it. Like a sudden rush of air over and through her, feeling something deep within her, perhaps her very soul sing out in that moment, and a word came to her mind. At first it was soft, but then it got louder until it was nearly screaming in her mind. 

krii. krii. krii. krii. Krii. Krii. Krii. KRII. Kill..the first word of the 'marked for death' shout. Nara hadn't realized she had tuned anything else out besides the wall until she realized Kaidan was behind her calling her name. Then he turned her by the shoulders and shook her.

“Nara!!” Kaidan looked down at her, seeing her eyes come into focus, and he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. “What was that? It was like you were in some sort of trance as soon as you looked at the wall.” He slowly let her go, seeing as she was fine otherwise. “I was calling your name but you wouldn't respond you just went up there and touched it.”

“You didn't hear the chanting? Or see the light as one of the runes glowed?” She knew he wouldn't.

“Uh no? All I know about those word walls is that they're usually some sort of memorial. Never heard about them being magic.” Kaidan glanced back at the wall behind her, eyes narrowing as if it offended him. It probably did, considering his experiences with magic. 

“But, its clearly had an effect on you.” Again he looked at her with that worry etched into his features. “Are you feeling alright?”

“I'm fine now, it felt like it was speaking to me, calling out to me perhaps. I'm not sure how to fully explain what happened.” Nara looked up as he patted her head as he was starting to do often. She didn't mind it. 

“Hey, there's no pressure to. I'd rather you take it easy than let some old magic scramble your brains.” Kaidan gave her a small encouraging smile but clearly one of worry before stepping back. “Let's see whats in this chest then, and get this phial that guy wants.”

Nara nodded before turning to the large chest, and with the help of Kaidan, opened it. Inside Nara was delighted to actually find something worth their time and effort. A delicately crafted head band seemed to be within, the gentle tell-tale glow of an enchantment encasing the teardrop amethyst that hung off the center of the swirling silver design. “It's enchanted, but I can't tell what kind.” Putting it away in the pack for now, she got out Nurelion's mixture before descending the stairs on the opposite side of the wall and walking down the narrow hallway to the carved iron bowl on the stone pedestal at the end.

“So, we just put the stuff he gave us in that bowl? What's that supposed to do?” Kaidan looked rather puzzled, but Nara just nodded and uncorked the phial before dumping the contents into the bowl. It sizzled and smelled quite acidic, the vapors making her nose tickle and she sneezed, but otherwise it wasn't an unpleasant experience. For a few moments, it did seem like nothing would happen but then the sound of stone moving across itself caught both of their attention, and they looked to see the 'hidden' door moving to reveal Curalmil's alchemy chamber. A quick glance around told Nara that most of the ingredients laying about were well past their prime, so she ignored them in favor of the phial that was on a carved stone pedestal underneath a banner.

“That's what we came for? It just looks like a normal phial, save for the large crack in it.” Kaidan seemed to grumble behind her as he turned to look around the room for anything else useful.

“Sadly its broken, but this is what he wanted. Hopefully he knows a way to repair it.” Nara knew there would be another quest later to repair the broken phial, but for now she kept that information to herself and retrieved the phial before joining Kaidan in looking around. Luckily there were a few things like canis root, dragonflies, along with frost and fire salts that wouldn't degrade much if at all. She also found another skill book, this one entitled 'A Game at Dinner' which she placed next to the other book in her pack with care, not knowing how old it was. 

“Let's get back to Nurelion then.” Kaidan agreed as they made their way out of the cave, stopping just long enough to skin the trolls. It was no job of a master and the holes made from Kaidan's sword would draw down the value, along with the singed areas of fur, but the pelts would bring extra coin. 

\--------

Nara and Kaidan left the White Phial with a hefty bag of septims. She was happy, though Kaidan was a bit annoyed. 

“I can't believe he tried to give you only five septims for that. Sure it was broken but you risked your life to get that for him. Bitter bastard.” Kaidan glared at the door to the shop as it closed. He had been surprised Nara had taken the five septims without complaint, but then it seemed Quintus had a good head on his shoulders and gave them much more. 

“I don't blame him. He seems to have a terrible sickness, as well as...not being a people person to begin with. At least Quintus gave us some real pay. Let's go back to the Inn shall we?” Nara took a moment to look up at the night sky, dazzled for a moment by just how many stars there were in the sky. She was city born and raised, so she never got to see a full night sky, and while she saw the sky in the game all the time, seeing it in real life was....it was something else entirely.

“It's beautiful..” Nara whispered more to herself than to Kaidan, though he heard and followed her gaze up at the stars.

“It sure is.” His gaze drifted back down to her for a moment before he began to move patting her head as he passed by. 

They didn't get but halfway to the hall when a scream sounded down the alley to the left. A quick glance and a nod between the two and they ran that way, Kaidan getting his sword ready and Nara readying two balls of fire in her palms. As they crested the corner they saw the body of Susanna, naked and mutilated upon the grave, her guts strewn about with several onlookers seemingly just as shocked. It was probably one of them who screamed. Nara gasped as the strong scent of coppery blood hit her sensitive nose. That coupled with the sheer gore caused her to lose her stomach, vomiting into a patch of nightshade while Kaidan patted her on the back.

“Hold it there keep your distance.” A guard approached the two with a torch held before him to see who they were in the night. “Oh, you're that little strange khajiit.” Nara swore it was one of the two guards from when they first arrived, and she wanted to kick him in the dick, but she refrained herself as she stood, wiping her mouth.

“We heard the scream, and came running. What happened?” Her eyes drifted over to Susanna again and she shivered. She completely forgot about this quest. The khajiit then caught sight of Calixto, and her eyes narrowed. 

“Another girl has been killed, this is..was Susanna from Candlehearth Hall.” Even though his face was helmeted, she could hear the sadness in his voice. “Served me a drink just a few nights ago..but I can't say I knew her.”

“Another?” Kaidan questioned as he stepped forward, sheathing his sword since there was no need for it.

“Susanna was the third. Its always the same: young girl, killed at night, body torn up.”

Nara was still staring hard as Calixto, and it seemed he felt her stare as he looked up at her, and blinked as if confused why she looked so angry. It seemed the criminal truly did always return to the scene of the crime. He was enjoying this, watching people grieve. Either that or trying to make himself seem inconspicuous, but she knew. If not for the others around, she would incinerate him where he stood. But then there would be questions.

“The murders are being investigated, right?” Nara snapped her head to the guard, almost accusatory at him. 

“We're stretched thin as it is with the war, Khajiit. Nobody has time to spend on this. It's not pleasant. But its true.” He stepped forward, as if challenging her to insult him and his ability to do his duties again. Kaidan stepped closer to Nara, putting himself between her and the guard, and the guard backed down a half step. 

“What if I helped?” Nara had not expected the guard to start laughing at her. 

“What, you? You're just an outsider khajiit, let alone I doubt you could do anything that the guards couldn't!” While he was busy laughing he didn't see the way her face coloured with anger. Her growling seemed to only spur on his laughter further and she huffed through her nose. 

“Ingrate.” 

“What was that, khajiit?” The guard stopped laughing and put the hand on the hilt of his sword, in a silent warning. 

Kaidan put his hand on Nara's shoulder. “Look, let's not do anything rash here. We just want to help is all. Since you're stretched thin as you claim.” He narrowed his eyes at the guard, as if daring him to raise a sword to Nara. Would he really defend her from the guard? He wasn't stupid to think he could actually challenge the law, but he would defend her. 

“All right fine, you two want to help? Why don't you ask these on lookers and see if they saw anything, hmm? I've got to go file a report and get the body to the hall of the dead before the rats can.” With that the guard walked off. 

“You're a lot of trouble, you know that?” Kaidan asked after the guard was out of earshot.

“Yeah well, he started it. Now let's start asking questions.” Nara sighed before turning to the beggar woman, Silda. This was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Sugoitoi here!
> 
> I hope that I was able to bring some enjoyment with this chapter, as it was a lot of fun to write, especially now that I actually have some sleep! I'm still not sure whether or not Rolff will rear his ugly head again. I can't imagine the Nord would take the beating he received lying down, especially from a tiny khajiit. Maybe he is just biding his time? LEave a comment or kudos if you wish!
> 
> Ta Ta for now


	4. Blood on the Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaidan and Nara set off to investigate the mystery of these recent killings, all the while Nara tries to not just wring the killer's neck in broad daylight. Something ugly rears its head, and then they depart Windhelm, for now.
> 
> ARCHIVE WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER. THERE IS AN ATTEMPTED RAPE SCENE THAT HAS BEEN MARKED FROM BEGINNING TO END FOR THOSE WHO ARE TRIGGERED BY THIS CONTENT. VAGUE MENTIONS AFTER THE SCENE. MINOR CHARACTER DEATH IN THIS CHAPTER

“Another one...terrible.” The rough voice of a frequent drug user spoke out, looking upon the corpse of Susanna as Helgird and the guard were piling her remains onto a cart to be wheeled off to the Hall of the Dead.

Nara gently tapped the ragged woman on the shoulder, smiling softly albeit sadly at the dirty hardened face that turned to meet her. “Did you see what happened by chance?” Nara tried to keep her emotions in check, as Calixto was still nearby, and she had to at least pretend to be investigating as told, for now.

“I heard a scream and came running, but she was already....like this.” Bloodshot eyes seemed to phase out of focus then, and Silda turned. She wouldn't be much help. 

The khajiit approached Helgird then, watching her sigh and look ever so sadly at the woman's body. “This is a shame.”

“Did you see what happened?” Nara inclined her head when she got the woman's attention.

“Eh, no sorry. I did notice her coin purse was still intact though.” The woman pointed to the coin purse laying among the shredded remains of her clothes. “I've got to do my duty and prepare the body, if you'll excuse me.”

Nara nodded and stepped out of the woman's way as she moved the body. Then she turned her eyes to Calixto, trying to keep the anger out of them. She inhaled sharply, staring at a point in the middle of his brow, otherwise she might not be able to keep a level voice. 

“Always sad when someone has to die..” Calixto frowned marginally as Nara approached, trying to put on that old man routine for her. 

“Did /you/ see what happened, perhaps?” Nara kept repeating in her mind she had to do this a certain way and couldn't act on the rage she felt. She never felt this angry in any of the times she did this quest. Sure it was sad but nothing ever made her angry. But then again, this was no longer a game. 

“Sorry, I thought I saw a fella' running away, but didn't get a good look at him.” Calixto nodded his head and excused him self. Yeah, I bet if you looked in a mirror you would! Nara screamed the thought in her mind to keep from lunging at him, her fists clenched tight.

“Are you okay?” Kaidan looked at her face, figuring that the state of the body had made her upset. It definitely made him disgusted to see that someone could do that to another. 

“Huh? Yeah...I'm okay.” She was still glaring the way that Calixto had left. She had to bide her time, then she could strike as soon as there was enough evidence. Turning back towards the Hall of the Dead, they met up with the guard from before.

“I talked to all of those in the area, but as usual no one saw anything.”

“The Bastard has escaped again, then.”

“We could provide further assistance, if you'd let us. Three killings is no mere coincidence. There is more to this.” She stared up at the guard confidently, as he was sure to be glaring back down at her through that helmet of his. 

“Look, khajiit, if you really think you can do better than the legion of guards, be my guest.” Nara quirked a brow as he reverted to her race, yet again. She had a name, even if she hadn't given it to him. “You'll need to talk to the steward though, we can't just let a khajiit go around claiming to be on official business.” 

“Fine, we'll be back.”

\------

Jorleif had been an agreeable enough man, once he believed that Nara was serious about helping the guard. At least he didn't laugh in her face. He offered the aid that he could, giving them a signed and sealed letter of authority with the symbol of Windhelm should they be questioned by guards or anyone else on this matter. 

“What is it, khajiit?” The guard asked when they returned. She ground her teeth. That was getting quite annoying.

“The name is Nara, Nord. Jorleif gave us permission to help in the investigation. Here is the letter of authority.” She offered him up a parchment which the guard nearly snatched to look over under torch light.

“All right then.” He seemed unimpressed but accepting, handing the paper back to her, which she folded and slid into her pack. 

“I noticed a trail of blood leading away from here. Why not start there?”

Nara nodded, glad he didn't suggest talking to Helgird. She knew what the woman would say, and it honestly wasn't anything truly useful to her. Glancing at the blood, she followed the trail with her eyes before heading for that direction, shivering slightly in the chill of the night. 

“You're on edge tonight.” Kaidan's voice caught her attention as they followed the trail.

“Three women have been murdered. I want to solve this and catch..whoever it is as quickly as possible.” Nara stated rather flatly. Though it was true. 

“Good point.”

Following the blood trail to the end, Nara wasn't unsurprised for it to lead them to Hjerim, as she knew it would. Approaching the door and not even bothering to have Kaidan keep watch, as they were on official business, she began trying to pick the lock, growling as she heard the little 'click' and felt slack. 

“Shit.” 

“What?”

“That was my last pick.” Nara tossed the broken end over her shoulder and stared, hands on her hips. “I'll have to damage the lock.” Before Kaidan could protest she was already blasting fire on the lock, making quick work of heating the metal. Though, she didn't let it get hot enough to melt, just hot enough that she could pry her steel dagger between the doors and pop open the lock. 

“Okay, it's open.” Looking over her shoulder she opened the door and they went inside. Nara's nose wrinkling at the stench of old and new blood, as well as mold, moisture, and rats. “Let's split up and look around, you take upstairs, I've got down here.” Kaidan nodded and made his way upstairs, while she looked around at the various papers scattered about, the rat droppings, empty bottles, scattered pieces of furniture, and the chest to the left. Opening the chest, she pulled out one of The Butcher's journal along with the pamphlets she knew would be there, thumbing through them, not really needing to read to know what was going on and why. She could hear Kaidan shuffling around upstairs as she made her way towards the back room, the strong stench of gore making her head swim, so she breathed through her mouth. 

“Kaidan, I think I found something.” Nara called up as she went to the desk and pulled out the amulet she already knew to be there as well, under a stack of flyers about The Butcher. Yeesh, narcissism much?

“What did you find?” He poked his head in, looking around at the papers she tossed about the small space, picking one up to read it. “Seems the Butcher is a bit of a collector.”

“This.” The khajiit held up the amulet, showing him the skull that was decorating the front. “We should show this to Jorleif when we get back.”

Kaidan nodded before looking around further, then back to the door and hiking a thumb towards it over his broad shoulder, “If we're done here, we can head back now.”

Nara nodded, but then, pretended to squint her eyes suspiciously in the darkened room. “That wardrobe is..odd. I can smell something, and hear a draft behind it.” She lied while staring at the wardrobe, not wanting to meet his eyes. 

“Think there's something behind it?” The warrior asked before approaching and trying to shove it to the side. “It's nailed to the floor.” Kaidan opened the wardrobe, and felt around before finding the little dip in the wood for a handle. Grabbing it, he pulled the false back aside, and almost gagged at the sight and smell which met him. 

Nara braced herself with a slow deep breath before following him into the false room, gagging herself at the sight alone. There were bones /everywhere/. Some were cleaned off, but others were bloody, still covered in bits of flesh and the wood was rotting in some spaces from soaking up so much gore. Her eyes drifted to the ritual table at the back and she shuddered meeting the gaze of a bloody skull with an eyeball still lodged in one of the sockets. She didn't have to feign walking over and shakily snatching the other journal before stepping back and turning away from the sight. It was sickening. 

The pair gladly left Hjerim, and made their way back towards the Palace of the Kings. 

“What did the journals you found say?” Kaidan eyed the two blood stained things in her grasp.

“Disturbing stuff. It appears whatever is going on may be some type of necromancer ritual. Perhaps bringing back someone.” She already knew Calixto was trying to bring back his dead sister, but again, she didn't want to divulge that information yet, lest people become suspicious of /her/. Nara yawned softly as they waited for a guard to retrieve Jorleif from upstairs. She felt a bit bad, as the hour was late, but she would much rather get this over and done with before Calixto had time to get to his next victim. 

“I've never seen anything like this.” The Nord looked through the journals and examined the amulet they found. “I'd advise you take it to Calixto at The House of Curiosities. He has a good eye for strange trinkets.”

Nara just barely kept herself from growling at the name alone and nodded curtly, before leaving the palace with Kaidan in tow, both of them yawning every few minutes.

“Hey Nara, lets call it a night for now. I know you're determined to help, but you need your rest.” Kaidan looked at her with worry, as he often did lately.

“Alright..I guess I am...tired.” With the yawned reply, the two went back to CandleHearth Hall for the rest of the night, but Nara would be sure to get them both up early. 

\---------- 

They arrived at The House of Curiosities just as it opened, Calixto was only just sitting down in his seat when the door opened and the khajiit entered with her friend. He growled internally, though outwardly, put on a curious yet friendly smile.

“Can I help you?” He said as he leaned back in the chair with a sigh, trying to seem feeble and old.

“You're Calixto, yes?” Nara asked him with a flat tone.

“Yes, welcome to The House of Curiosities, I offer a brief tour for a small fee, or you can browse at your leisure.” Offering the two a kind smile, inside he wanted them to leave as soon as possible. He knew they were helping with the investigation into the murders. He saw them go into Hjerim. 

“Do you know anything about this amulet?” The khajiit held the necromancer's amulet up quickly, the skull on the front glinting softly. Calixto kept his expression curious and unassuming, but there was no mistaking the glint in his eye that Nara saw. Stupid nosy bitch. He leaned forward squinting as he 'examined' it.

“Let me see...ah, yes. This is a wheelstone. It's an heirloom symbol of the power of Windhelm.”

Nara wanted to laugh in his face, but controlled it. Wheelstone my ass. It was obviously a necromancer's amulet with the skull clearly engraved on the front. Kaidan's expression seemed to reflect her doubt on that answer. The khajiit clicked her tongue.

“Is that right?” She feigned intrigue and curiosity. He nodded, though he seemed to squint at her question.

“Traditionally its carried by the court mage.” Maybe she was as stupid as she looked, and that would throw her and the big brute of her's off the trail. But he also needed that amulet to bring back his dear sister, so he cleared his throat. “I would be interested in acquiring it. If you're willing to part with it that is.” Say yes. Say yes. Say yes, you dumb fool. Maybe money would convince her? “For a piece like that I could pay...say 500 gold?” There was a glint in her eye he thought to be greed.

“Deal.” Nara handed over the amulet, waiting for him to go upstairs and get the money. She never liked giving it to him, but in her game there was a glitch that left it in your inventory forever if you didn't hand it over. While she doubted that would happen now, the extra gold before she offed him in the marketplace wouldn't hurt. Kaidan gave her a questioning look when she looked at him and the khajiit signaled to be quiet and nodded her head towards the door. The swordsman nodded, and looked around at all of the items. 

“This will be a splendid addition to my private collection.” Calixto brought down a bag of septims, and offered it out towards her, a satisfied smile on his face, thinking he got one over on them. “You two take care of yourself now, will you? Have a good day.”

“Right. Thank you. Come on Kaidan, let's go pay the court mage a visit.” Nara handed the septims off to Kaidan and walked out of the building, moving off to the side so Kaidan could catch up to her. When he came over, they moved a little farther down away from the house towards the 'gray' quarter.

“Why did you sell it to him? Wasn't it part of the investigation?” He couldn't understand the motive behind it. “Also I'm not sure its a wheelstone like what he said. I've seen amulets like that before.”

“You're right. I think he's lying. I only sold it to him for the coin. I want to tail him, see where he goes. I only said we would go talk to the court mage to throw him off our trail so he wouldn't be paranoid. But we do need to talk to him, after having a chat with Jorleif.”

“That was smart.” Kaidan raised a brow at her.

“Thank you.”

\---------

After having chatted with Jorleif and Viola, the pair made their way to Wuunferth's quarters after gaining special entry for the investigation. 

Entering his quarters, Nara spotted him in a chair in the corner, as well as a stone of Barenziah on the table, but she would get that later.

“I heard you might know something about necromancy?” Nara knew he didn't, at least not like that, but for the sake of appearances, and the gossip guards loved to talk, she wanted it to seem like they suspected him. 

“I beg your pardon? I am a member of the College of Winterhold. In good standing!” The rage in his eyes made her a little uncomfortable, clearly having slighted the man. “They haven't allowed necromancy for hundreds of years!”

Nara smiled a bit weakly at him,“I found these journals in Hjerim, can you prove this is not your handwriting?” She handed over only one of the journals, as any smart mage would just incinerate the journals if guilty.

“I've never kept a journal in my life. Here, compare this letter to the writing in this journal.” Wuunferth grabbed an unfinished letter from his desk and held it up to her, opening the journal to a random page so they could compare the handwriting. The two styles were vastly different. 

“Well, clearly you didn't write it. Perhaps we can ask you questions then? We also found an amulet, which had a skull in the middle of it. We took it to Calixto and he claimed it to be a wheelstone, and a symbol of power reserved for the court mage.”

Wuunferth snorted at that, “I know what you speak of. That is no wheelstone. That is a necromancer's amulet. Its legendary, if that's truly what it looked like.”

Nara nodded, and took the journal back from him when it was offered. “Thank you, Wuunferth.”

“You were at least half-right. There is necromancy at the heart of this.” The old mage sighed, tiredness creeping into his face. That, and relief that the two were no longer accusing him of necromancy.

“So what do you suggest we do then, as Calixto was wrong?” Nara held the jounrals behind her back, standing straight as she waited for Wuunferth.

“I've been noting a pattern, to when the killings happen.”Wuunferth stated, waiting for Nara's head nod before he continued.“Now that we know they're tied into some sort of necromantic ritual, I think I know when the next might occur.” He began mumbling aloud. “Lets see, from a Lordeas of Last Seed until a Middas of Hearthfire...it will happen soon. Very soon. Keep watch in the Stone Quarter tomorrow night. That's almost certainly where the killer will strike next.”

“Thank you Wuunferth. Deepest apologies if I offended you before. I appreciate the counsel.” Nara offered, causing the old mage to smile at her. 

“It is no trouble. Mistakes can happen to the best of us, and you are young dear.”

With that, Kaidan and Nara left, taking a rest at CandleHearth Hall for the mid-day meal.

“So, Nara, why do you think Calixto did it then? Are you sure about this?” He had a bad feeling about this Calixto character himself, but he was curious about her reasoning.

“It was...something in his eyes..” Again a partial truth, as the look in his eyes was dark and depraved. “He was also a bit /too/ eager to get his hands on that amulet, wouldn't you say?”

Kaidan nodded however to her reasoning, “So are we going to patrol the Stone Quarter at night?” He took a sip of his ale, looking around the room as he often did when they sat at the corner table. 

“Yes, but I'd like us to split up.” Nara swirled her mug, “There is no guarantee that The Butcher will strike in the Stone Quarter. It would be better if we each took half of the city. I'd rather be alone and catch him, than be together and have another murder happen somewhere we're not.” She knew where Calixto would strike, and who, but she couldn't just go there without Kaidan becoming suspicious.

He was silent for a long while before sighing and giving a nod. “Alright, but you be careful, Nara. In fact...here..” Kaidan reached to his belt and unhooked something, placing it on the table between them. It was the horn he carried.

“Its a Nord war horn; carved from a bit of tusk. If you run into trouble, you blow that. I'll hear you and come running.” He stared at her, watching as she took it in her small hands, and felt just a little bit better about this whole thing. Hopefully she wouldn't need it. 

“Thank you, Kaidan.”

\--------

Later that night, after the streets began to empty and the hour grew later, Nara and Kaidan met outside of CandleHearth Hall. “I'll take the market and alleyway side. You take Stone Quarter.” Nara adjusted the horn Kaidan gave her on her belt. The new weight of it felt odd.

“Alright, remember, if you find anything blow the horn.” Kaidan stared at her for a long moment before she nodded at him, and they parted ways.

The khajiit made a bee-line for the market district, padded feet silent on the frozen stone. Looking up to the night sky, Nara took a moment to again marvel at the beauty of it all. Within no time she was in the market district, and huddled down in the blacksmith area, behind the low wall. It was a bit of waiting but, Arivanya eventually showed up. She turned to watch her just over the low wall, not ever sure what the woman had been doing out here so late at night in any of her play throughs. She watched the woman look around, then pocket a loose piece of merchandise one of the stall owners must've forgot to put away for the night. Ah. She could remembered the Altmer talk about how dull her husband and life with horses were. Maybe she liked the excitement a little thievery brought?

Arivanya stood just ahead, not noticing the Khajiit watching her hidden behind the wall of the blacksmith's area, and certainly didn't see Calixto come from the alleyway by the smelter. She took a moment to look around some more, looking to see if there was something else one of the merchants could 'misplace.' She didn't hear the careful way that Calixto unsheathed his dagger, or the foot falls of soft leather shoes on stone. 

“Hey Calixto! Heads up!” Nara had waited for the moment to strike and stood after getting his attention, hurdling two fireballs at his form in quick succession, before getting more ready. The old man was unaware, turning around to see who called him only to be hit by the fire and catch flame. He began to panic, running about, which only fed the flames as he flailed. 

Arivanya screamed and ran, causing Nara to flinch at the high pitch. Hurdling more fireballs at the man, she didn't stop until he dropped to his knees and fell face first onto the cold stone, dead. She could've made it quicker, but he didn't deserve that. Standing and dusting herself off, she started making her way towards CandleHearth Hall, going to call Kaidan when she was back so he didn't have to come running across the city. As she passed the alleyway leading down to the graves, she didn't realize someone was hanging about in the shadows behind the brazier until they grabbed her at the waist, pulling her close and clamping a large dirty hand over her mouth before she could scream. Nara squirmed in the grasp but they were far too strong. She could smell the stench of alcohol and then heard a familiar voice.

“Out for a little midnight stroll, little khajiit bitch?” It was Rolff, though his voice was nasally with the recently broken nose. Nara fought even harder as he dragged her into the alleyway towards the graves and away from any patrolling guards route. 

\------- Start of attempted rape scene------

“I got her, Angrenor. Help me hold her down, shes a feisty thing.” Rolff sneered at her, and she could feel his gross heated breath on her skin, making it crawl. Looking to the other Nord, she recognized him as the other she had seen bothering that Dunmer woman when her and Kaidan first arrived. Angrenor moved to hold her arms while Rolff grabbed her legs under one arm, not taking his hand from her mouth as they dragged her towards the western graveyard which was less kept and darker. 

“Not only are ya a dark elf lover, you're a filthy cat too.” The smile that the two men gave her was vile. “But I wonder, are the stories true about you cats? Is your pot of honey sweet as moon sugar? You're so tiny, I bet it's tight too.”

All Nara could do was scream harder against Rolff's hand and try to struggle more, but it was in vain. Roughly throwing her to the ground, Rolff sat on top of her, while Angrenor held her arms up above her head. She started shaking her head against his hand, tears welling at the edge of her eyes. She was so scared. She was trapped. She shouldn't have split up with Kaidan! Nara remember her magic in that moment, and tried to call fire to her palms, but it flickered in and out of existence with her panicked mind. 

“Aww look she's a filthy magic user too!” Angrenor chuckled, now being careful to hold her hands out at odd angles so he couldn't get blasted in the face. “Can't have you messing up my pretty face like you did Rolff's.” 

“Hey!” Rolff glared up at Angrenor. Nara took the moment to bite his hand hard enough to draw blood when his grip on her mouth slackened. “AGGGGHHH! You little BITCH!” Rolff punched her in the face, sending her skull to bounce against the stone beneath her before flicking his hand in pain. Nara saw stars in her vision as the edges grew dark. She fought unconsciousness and groaned softly, just knowing the back of her head was bleeding now. 

Roughly, the drunk Nord lifted her chain mail tunic and undershirt, before cutting the ties to her too large trousers off. Shifting himself down a bit lower to sit on her legs while he began to fiddle with the ties of his own trousers. 

The Nord leaned down to whisper harshly into her ear, “I'll make you beg for mercy as we take turns with ya little cat, then I'll kill you slowly.” The man chuckled as he reach down to her neck, slightly choking her so she couldn't scream. He eagerly listened to the khajiit gasp and struggle for air as he released his erect member from its filthy cotton confines. Nara looked up to Rolff's face, tears streaming down either side of her face, and she sobbed in cracked tones, shaking her head desperately.

A sudden gurgle and a choking sound above him caused Rolff to look up at Angrenor. The man had an arrow sticking out of his neck and he was grasping at it, blood spurting out of the wound at multiple points before he turned pale as snow and fell over, dead. 

“WHAT?!” The fat Nord stumbled to stand and turned around to see who killed his friend, only to meet an arrow between his brow a split second later. Kaidan stood at the other end of the graveyard, bow out and having been the one to shoot them both. Rolff gave a groan of death and fell over, much like Angrenor.

“NARA!” Kaidan ran as fast as his feet would carry him towards her too still body at the other end of the graveyard. While he had been patrolling the Stone Quarter, a Dunmer woman came screaming down the street yelling about a crazy khajiit who set someone on fire. That had to be Nara. He had run straight to the marketplace, following the scent of burnt flesh and hair, finding the corpse of Calixto, but didn't see her. In a panic, he was going to run back to CandleHearth Hall when he had heard someone yell in pain from the graveyard, so diverted that way and came to the scene. 

Nara flinched on the ground as the arrow came sailing through the air and hit the one holding her hands in the throat, splattering blood upon the ground and some on her hair and face. She could only stare with wide eyes as he died clawing at his throat in vain. Then when Rolff stood and got off of her, she didn't have to look, as she heard the arrow sail and hit its mark as well, before hearing his fat body hit the stone. Soon Kaidan was in her vision, the most worried and pained look on his face she had ever seen. 

“Nara! Are you alright? What....Did he..?” Kaidan could see her state of partial undress, and he feared he was too late. Quickly unclasping his cloak, he draped it over her shoulders after helping her sit up as her trousers were no longer wearable. As gently as he could he wiped away the tears on her cheeks, his heart clenching as he was afraid what the answer was.

“N-no...he didn't. He almost...I..I was so scared.” Nara let the situation sink in and began to cry loudly, leaning her head into Kaidan's chest. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have suggested we split up!” She kept repeating that she was sorry over and over while Kaidan tried to shush her and held her tightly to him without trying to hurt her. 

“No, don't you be sorry for a damn thing. This is my fault for leaving you. Come on. Let's get you back to the Inn. We can tell Jorleif in the morning. Your head is bleeding.” Without asking Kaidan picked up the small woman, carrying her bridal style while making sure she was covered with his cloak. The khajiit didn't stop him, merely crying in silence now and all the way back to CandleHearth Hall, until she fell asleep with her head in Kaidan's lap.

\------End of attempted rape scene-----

\--------

“Ysmir's beard! The man was always a bit odd but I wouldn't have expected...” Jorleif blinked in his shock as the news was broken to him. He had already heard about three being attacked and killed last night, but the burned body hadn't been identified yet. “What about Rolff and Angrenor?”

Nara took in a shaky breath, and told Jorleif about what happened. Kaidan had offered before they left for the Palace of Kings to do the talking, but Nara said it was something she needed to do. Jorleif had a look of disbelief in his eyes, but nodded with understanding and sadness. 

“You've done this city a mighty service, friend.” He spoke softly, calling her a friend genuinely, though there was a sad tone to his voice.“So it is with heavy heart that I have to ask you to leave the city of Windhelm.”

“What?!” Nara had been looking off to the side, but snapped her head to look at him, brows furrowed. She didn't understand! This didn't happen in the game either. She was supposed to be told the guards would be nicer to her from now on. She was looking forward to that at the /very least/. 

Kaidan growled, poking Jorleif in the chest and getting in his face, “How could you possibly kick her out of the city? She caught the killer. She did the work YOUR MEN couldn't! She was almost...” Kaidan glared at the man hard, hatred in his eyes but he couldn't bare himself to say out loud what almost happened to Nara because he wasn't there. 

“Do not misunderstand, you solved a crime that none of my guards could, aye, and I am grateful as is the city. But you're a khajiit. Killer or not that Calixto was, the people of Windhelm may not exactly be thrilled that you killed three citizens...two of which were Nords, even if it was in self defense.” Jorleif really wished there was a better resolution, but many wouldn't want her to walk free, even if she wasn't the one in the wrong for Rolff and Angrenor's deaths. 

“Fine!” Nara growled at him, and he took no offense to it. This is just how things were sadly. He watched her stomp off angrily before looking at Kaidan who was still staring him down. “For what its worth, I'm sorry.”

“Yeah.” The warrior turned around to go follow Nara out of the Palace of Kings and back to the Inn so they could gather their belongings. 

\--------

“Of all the injustices!” Nara exclaimed to the skies as they left the city about an hour later after a last meal, the woman still fuming and mumbling angrily to herself. Kaidan put a hand on her shoulder and she stopped, breathing heavily. “Those fucking sons of bitches!”

“I know you're upset. I am too, but hey, he didn't say it was for good, probably just long enough for everyone to...er..forget.” The look she was giving him was sad, and hurt. His heart twisted. 

“Yeah, see if I even want to come back TO THIS SHIT HOLE OF A SKEEVER RIDDEN TOWN!!!” Nara turned to yell at the city as a whole, causing some people walking along the bridge to flinch, before hurrying to move away from the crazy woman. Nara huffed and turned on her heel before flipping some hair over her shoulder haughtily. 

“Do you feel better now?” Kaidan chuckled softly as he followed her towards the carriage by the stables.

“Yes actually.” She smiled, just slightly, before pausing at the steps down and turned to look up at him, a serious expression on her face.

“Kaidan...thank you.” If not for him...she might be dead right about now. And she wasn't thinking about the one time. He already saved her multiple times, but he was still here. The khajiit smiled up at him warmly. 

The warrior looked down at her giving a sharp intake of breath at the look in her eyes and that beautiful, warm smile. So full of compassion. He knew then he wanted to follow this little khajiit woman wherever she went. Not just to repay a debt, but to see her smile too. His cheeks flushed for a moment and Kaidan covered it up by turning his head to clear his throat.

“Aye, you're welcome Nara.” 

“Let's go to Riften next, if that's okay with you? She began walking towards the carriage again, looking over her shoulder at him. 

“We can go wherever you want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, Sugoitoi here!
> 
> Wow, I'm really spitting out these chapters lately. They're just so fun to write. Well, this one was a bit hard, but I got through. Kudos and comment!
> 
> Ta Ta for now.


	5. Taking Care of Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nara and Kaidan arrive at Riften. They accept a few quests, and inevitably speak to Brynolf. Nara wants to join, but she refuses to seem desperate to do it. Nara also discovers she has an important decision to make later.

Nara stirred slightly as she felt someone gently shaking her. The sleepy khajiit mumbled something incoherent and snuggled further into the warmth that she was against. Nara thought faintly she heard a chuckle and a clearing of a throat in the distance. Someone shook her again, hard. 

“Nara, wake up. We're here.” Kaidan watched as her head lolled back when he shook her, still asleep, the soft sounds of snoring escaping her open maw. He sighed as the carriage driver was snickering looking over his shoulder at them. The look Kaidan gave however, made the empty road ahead very interesting in that moment to the driver.

Sighing again, Kaidan stood, hoisting the half-dead woman over his shoulder like a sack of produce along with both of their bags and hopped off the carriage. Dropping the packs, he set Nara on her feet, and again shook her. This time she came to.

“Hmmm? What is it? Five more minutes....” She tried to lean her head on his armor.

“No more sleeping. Dammit woman you could sleep through a stampede of horkers!” Kaidan looked at her in an annoyed fashion as Nara finally opened her eyes mostly, taking in their surroundings.

“Hey, we're here.” 

Kaidan merely chuckled, shaking his head before giving her a pat on hers as a response. Picking up both packs, he handed Nara's to her, hoping the weight may keep her awake as her eyes looked a bit droopy still. The khajiit woman in question yawned wide, and stretched, a few bones popping as her tail straightened out with the motion for a moment, fur puffing out. Ears flicked, listening to the crickets chirp in the early evening; the sun was hung low in the sky but not quite setting. When the heavy weight of the pack was handed to her, she nearly fell forward, stumbling a step or two, but seemed to wake entirely then as she slid the pack over her shoulder. 

“Hold there.” As expected, a guard stopped them both at the gate, this one wore no helmet, only a hood that covered most of his face. His eyes were locked onto Nara, a puzzled look on his features. He didn't start asking questions about her appearance out loud at least. “Before I let you into Riften, you need to pay the visitor's tax.” Nara rolled her eyes as she recalled this about Riften. 

“And what could this tax possibly be for?” 

“For the privilege of entering the city of course, what does it matter?” 

Nara tilted her head, brow quirked before clicking her tongue and ever so calmly sauntering towards the guard, purposefully swinging her hips out, her tail swaying in motion with each step. It was a good thing he didn't have a helmet, so Nara didn't have to wonder if she had the man's attention now, the way his eyes widened, and brows rose. He was a bit taller than her, so she had to bend her neck slightly to look up at him. The guard stood a bit straighter, even puffing out his chest slightly. Nara smiled sweetly up at him through full lashes, batting them softly up to the large man, and she saw his tongue dart out to wet suddenly dry lips. 

“Maybe there is something we can agree on...” Nara giggled, curling her finger in a motion that told the Nord to come closer. 

The guard blinked, before a stupid and cocky grin formed on his face. Giving the other guard a look of the cat who caught the canary, he obediently bent forward to be closer to the pretty little thing that smelled like flowers. He reached a hand out to twirl in a lock of her hair as he spoke huskily.

“And what did you have in mind, little kitten?”

“How about for starters...” Nara batted her lashes at him a few more times, before curling a fist into the front of his tunic, and yanking him forward. “You IDIOTS come up with a better idea to shake down travelers, huh? I wasn't born yesterday. 'For the privilege of entering the city' MY ASS! How about you let us through, and I don't start screaming about the guards at Riften shaking people down from here to Hammerfell hmm?” 

Kaidan felt like his jaw couldn't drop any lower. When the guard had stopped them, he figured it would pretty much be a repeat of Windhelm. Or they would just have to pay, simple as that. When Nara started questioning the guard, he caught on to the less than confident tone and knew it was a shakedown. What the warrior did not expect however, was the way that Nara elegantly moved towards the man, her hips swaying in such a fashion he couldn't help but watch along with the guards. For just a moment the way that the guard Nara was speaking to looked at her---it made his blood boil. When he reached out and started touching her hair without permission, he wanted to cut the hand off, instead shifting uncomfortably on the spot and trying to ignore his own feelings about this. Surely it was because she was acting in such a provocative manner in front of him and others? That was when she yanked him forward and began yelling in the man's face, and Kaidan's mouth fell open. 

The guard that had been twirling his rough calloused hand into that silky smooth hair of Nara's now looked like he had seen a ghost, face a bit paler and a grimace on his features. He looked around shiftily, then growled. “All right, all right fine. Just keep your voice down!” After his tunic was released he stood swiftly, glaring down at her now with some annoyance, cheeks red with embarrassment of getting counter-conned and loins now stirred by such a tiny thing. 

“Well?” Nara tilted her head at him, twirling a hand in her own hair lazily now.

“I'll unlock the gate. Ysmir's Beard, woman.” Grumbling, he turned to unlock it for the two and nearly stomped back to his previous spot. “Alright its unlocked, you can head in.” His eyes followed the two as they went inside, and he grumbled.

“She sure got one over on you!” The other guard slapped his knee and laughed aloud.

“Shut up!” 

Nara had a self-satisfied smirk on her face, and she chuckled as they entered the city. She noticed Kaidan seemed to have a frown on his face, his brow creased. When he caught her eye, that look deepened slightly.

“What?” She blinked a few times, confused. 

“Hmm. Nothing important.” He clicked his tongue and fell silent again.

Nara shrugged, figuring he was upset she was yet again antagonizing the guards when he asked her not to. The city of Riften in reality was much dirtier than the game portrayed, the stench of fish permeating the air like a thick miasma. Perhaps she should just become a mouth-breather at this point. Her ears turned to catch Mjoll talking to Aerin about the thieves guild, but only because of her sensitive ears, as the two were talking in somewhat hushed tones. Maul said nothing, unlike in the game, but the way his eyes raked over her made her feel uncomfortable and she walked a bit faster. Neither Sapphire or Shadr were on the bridge, so they made their way to The Bee and Barb, Nara making a mental note to find the stable hand later. 

Upon entering, the smell of mead and ale filled her senses, the muffled chatter of patrons mixing together too much to truly pick out any one patron's words, and she sighed. It was the closest she had ever felt to being back home in the city. CandleHearth Hall had been a bit too quiet for her liking, the patrons cold and bitter, like the winter wind outside it's walls. 

“Let's rest here for the night?” Her eyes drifted up to Kaidan, as his crimson gaze was already scanning the place for dangers.

“Aye, but keep your coin purse close. I've heard nothing but of the ilk of Riften.” His nose wrinkled, as he frowned. “I'll cut their hand off it they so much as touch you.”

“Well, I'll take more than a hand if they try.” Not that she truly thought she was capable of cutting someone's hand off for trying to steal from her, but she could certainly break a nose, or set someone on fire. She watched as Kaidan went to tuck himself into a corner, and smiled.

“Welcome to The Bee and Barb m'lady. If I can interest you in one of our specialty drinks, let me know.” Talen-Jei's voice caught her attention and she nodded politely, though forwent the special drinks this time and just got two mugs of ale for her and Kaidan. On her way towards the warrior, someone walked across the tavern, a bottle of ale in his hand, and bumped into Nara, causing her to spill the contents of both mugs of ale on herself.

“Oh, forgive me lass..I didn't see where I was going.” The smooth accented voice spoke to her, a soft wince as he looked at the damage he'd done. Oh she knew that voice too well.

“It's fine...” It wasn't fine. She didn't have many sets of clothes, and these were still recently new. “Also, give it back.” Nara shifted the partly spilled mugs to one hand, holding out her other palm up with an impatient look to Brynolf.

“I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, lass.” He tried to pour on the charm, that soft glint in his eye and that roguish smile on his face. 

“My dagger. Give it back, and I don't make a scene and get you kicked out. Also buy me two more mugs of ale and I won't mention your little set up at the gates to Laila Law-Giver.” Nara glared at him, hard. 

“How did....very well lass. You've won this, for now.” Rather than place it in her hands, he slipped the dagger back into the sheath, putting a little extra force so she felt it back in proper place, then put a few septims in her waiting palm. 

As she walked back to the counter to get refills, Brynolf quirked a brow in amusement. He would need to speak to her again, and soon. At first he just thought she was a very strange looking khajiit, and that she might be an easy target, but then he remembered his man at the door mention someone figured out what they were up to, and she fit the bill for the description. While he had no idea how she knew he was the one behind that little gig, he could tell she meant that she would rat him out, and he liked the dangerous glint in her eye that promised she could ruin him without even having to use a weapon. Very interesting indeed.

“Hey, everything okay? I saw that man run into you, then you two spoke and he gave you some septims..” Kaidan accepted the mug as she sat down, Nara fussing over how she smelled like ale now. He had watched the little scene intently, though he couldn't hear them speaking quietly among the soft roar of the other patrons. He had seen the man swipe her dagger, and was about to interfere when Nara didn't even bat an eye before requesting for it back. What were they speaking about? What did she say that the thief returned her dagger /and/ paid for refills? Kaidan's eyes wandered over from Nara towards the redheaded man, who was now leaning against the wall near the door, staring at Nara over his bottle of ale. Brynolf caught Kaidan's gaze, then looked away and walked out. 

“He thought he could be sly and take my dagger.” Nara's soft voice brought his attention back to her.

“Oh? How did you know?”

“He bumped into me, that's one of the oldest tricks for pick pocketing. Diversion.”

“What do you know of pick pocketing?” 

“Not enough to really practice it. Just aware enough to put two and two together.” She sipped from her freshly filled mug of ale. 

“So what did you say to him?” He looked over to see her shaking her head slightly at him, a hard look in her eye.

“Something to do with that thing that isn't worth mentioning?”

“..yeah.” Nara nodded and stuck her nose in her mug, before falling silent. 

Kaidan nodded and fell silent into his ale too. He could be patient for a while, but he hoped she would talk to him about it sooner rather than later. 

\-----------

It was mid morning when the two left to explore the city, first going into The Pawned Prawn to sell off any of their loot they hadn't had a chance to sell off in Windhelm. By the time they left the shop, they had quite the decent amount of coin which had taken Nara nearly three quarters of an hour to count out over 4000 septims. The bag was now a rather noticeable weight and the khajiit tried to recall if she had the mod installed that introduced bank notes to the game, sending a silent prayer she did. Since they were practically lousy with coin, the two figured they could afford some new equipment for Nara and made way towards the marketplace. 

“I know good work when I see it.” Nara smiled softly at Balimud, while he worked the forge, sweat dripping heavily from his brow. 

“Thank you, I put fire salts into the forge to keep the flames exceptionally hot.” The Nord beamed with pride at the two. “Now, can I help you both with something?”

“I'm a bit small in size and stature, so your standard pieces of armor won't fit me, obviously.” The khajiit chuckled a little, remembering how large the clothes she found in the prison were, as they were sized for altmer. “I was hoping to commission a set from you, and will pay extra for custom detail and design. I may need particular attention in the footwear area.” Looking down to her feet, she wiggled her bare clawed toes, causing the Nord to blink when he saw this. 

“If you've got the coin, then you have my forge. But sadly it may be some time before I can fill the order for you, the fire has been dying as the salts have cooled slowly over the years.”

Nara nodded, “How about we bring you enough fire salts to re-ignite the forge then? Do you think that would help?” Kaidan was off to the side looking at a few of the already made pieces with interest, specifically the arrows. She smiled before turning back to Balimund.

“Of course, in fact, I'll give you a discount if you supply the fire salts.”

“Great. It's a deal then. When we bring back the salts, we can discuss design, price, and get my measurements.” With an eager nod, Balimund went back to working the forge, having to make sure it could do the work needed for the day. Nara stood silent for a moment, wondering on when she should go pick up Inigo when she felt the fur on her neck stand up straight. Someone was directly behind her. In that instant she flashed back to Windhelm during that night, how that fat Nord's hands had grabbed her from behind. His dirty hands on her skin, the stench of ale on his filthy breath...she panicked.

“Never done an honest days work for all that coin you---OOF!!” Brynolf grunted as Nara swung around and punched him in the face mid-sentence. Everyone who was near enough to hear it looked over, some even walking over with smiles on their faces, eager for a show as Brynolf spit some blood onto the stone before rubbing his jaw. “Considering a lot of things, I probably deserved that..ow..” He chuckled despite the situation. “You can throw a punch for such a tiny thing, lass.”

Kaidan had been looking over some of the arrows Balimund had on display. They were well made, and looked sturdy enough to withstand use and recovery. The warrior was trying to decide how many he should buy when he heard that slippery snake's voice again and turned just in time to see Nara deck him across the face. He gave an exasperated sigh. Every time he turned around she was causing trouble, or she was the center of it. Going over to stand beside Nara, he put a hand on her head.

“Are you okay? Did he try to pick your pocket again?” He spoke in a low tone. She was shaking like a leaf! Kaidan frowned before turning angry gaze at Brynolf who was still nursing his jaw with a wince.

“Huh?” 

Nara blinked and her eyes re-focused when Kaidan's hand landed on her head, and she turned her head to look at the warrior, and she blinked again. “Kaidan?” Looking over to the beaten redhead who was having a glaring contest with Kaidan above her, she realized then she had punched him. The khajiit then noticed she was shaking a little, adrenaline still coursing through her and her knuckles hurt. When she hit Brynolf, Nara hadn't even noticed he was speaking to her, only seeing Rolff in the moment and feeling utter fear for it. 

“Brynolf wasn't doing anything wrong he just...I...” Nara turned a bit red from embarrassment, noticing the crowd and her ears laid back on her head. Said crowd dispersed shortly however, seeing there was going to be no fight, a few of them griping about how boring it was. 

“Wait how do you know my name, lass?” Brynolf asked suddenly, breaking eye-contact with Kaidan, hand still rubbing his now bruised jaw. A devilish smile crossed his face, his lids drooping. “Oh, have we shared a bed together before and you felt I slighted you with false promises?” His expression became puzzled. “I can't say I recall bedding you, lass. Though I'm fairly certain I'd remember a little vixen like you.” Brynolf just barely managed to duck Kaidan's fist then and he took a few steps back, palms up in a placating gesture. “Hey now, no need to get violent; I was just asking a question, lad.”

“Kaidan stop!” Nara exclaimed, hanging onto his arm as he was rearing it back for another punch. The warrior looked down at her for a moment, anger etched into its features but it changed to resigned calm after a few moments; and he lowered his arm before huffing, gone back to silently glaring at the offending redhead. 

“Fine. But I'm not going to stop next time he insults you like that.”

Nara stared between the two, trying to determine whether or not they were going to start a fight again. When it seemed there was an uneasy stalemate, she spoke up. “It doesn't really matter, but please don't come up behind me again like that. What did you want anyway, Brynolf?” She honestly wasn't sure if things would go how they did in the game anymore. Some things did, but enough didn't that she had doubts. 

“Well, lass. Before you so rudely attacked me, I was going to offer you an opportunity to make some extra coin, as you seem like the type who can handle themselves.” Brynolf glanced up at Kaidan for a moment. “Not only did you sniff out my little set up at the gate, but you also didn't miss a beat when I tested you by swiping your dagger.” It hadn't been a test at all, well at least not for this, but she didn't have to know that. 

“You want me to join the Thieves Guild, right?” Nara dropped her voice for his sake, shifting her weight to one leg and crossing her arms over her chest.

“And what makes you think that, lass?” Brunolf was silently impressed, though outwardly he looked amused, wanted to hear what she would say. 

“You said it yourself. I sniffed out your dogs, and I can hold my own. That and you're desperate for help.”

“Desperate?” Brynolf scoffed and placed a hand on his chest, as if truly offended. “What makes you say that?”

“Because you're asking a strange looking khajiit no larger than a Bosmer and her brutish companion to help with 'extra coin'.” Nara used air quotes for emphasis. She really felt like she could benefit from joining the Guild, but didn't want to seem eager, feeling Brynolf would be the type to lord that over her. 

Brynolf opened his mouth to reply, but he didn't speak. Merely sighing and shutting his sore trap. Damn. She was good. “Alright lass, you got me. Tell you what: I had something else planned, but seeing as you're so persuasive; if you can make your way to the Ragged Flaggon in one piece, you're in.” 

\-------------

After leaving the market, the two made their way into the ratway, both of their noses crinkling at the offending dampened smell which greeted them beyond the door. Drips echoed throughout the tunnels, and a whispering draft could be heard, giving the ratway an almost eerie atmosphere. 

“Are you sure you want to do this, Nara? I understand that knowing someone like Brynolf can be beneficial, but, I don't like him.” Kaidan peered around in the tunnel, eyeing the candlelight coming from a room at the end. He was starting to regret not just knocking a few of the man's teeth out. 

“Yes. You can't possibly teach me everything. Do not misunderstand, I value everything you're going to teach me, but a thief's skill set can come in handy for more than just cutting purses.” Looking back up at him, her eyes almost seemed to glow in the dim light, before she looked ahead, ears picking up the sound of two people talking. “We've got company.” 

Hewnon Black-Skeever and Drahff had just entered the room ahead to have their usual conversation about whatever it was they did under the Guild's nose. The Guild probably knew about it and didn't care, or they really didn't know and they would be doing Brynolf a favor by taking them out. Rather than try for a sneakier approach, Nara and Kaidan casually walked towards them, and the two men sneered in their direction, though upon seeing Nara, their brows quirked and they smiled. 

“So, Brynolf sent down more fools into the Ratway to find his little hideaway.” One of them, Draff she thought said with a snicker while Hewnon stood behind, rolling his shoulders. “Though its the first time he found someone so....interesting.”

“Let us pass, and we won't have to run you through.” Nara let two fireballs build into her open palms, while Kaidan unsheathed his sword, the light from Nara's magic illuminating his fierce crimson gaze in the dark. 

“Or, you can give us everything you two have, and we won't leave you for the rats to eat.” The two pairs stared at each other then, like a face off in the old west, each waiting for the other to make the first move. The two brutes were the first to move, running at the pair with loud cries intended to intimidate. It was the last mistake the two ever made, and they were cut down with ease.

“I tried to tell them...they just don't listen.” Nara gulped looking at the still bodies, blood leaking onto the stone before them. Killing was...becoming easier, she had to admit. Killing Calixto hadn't hardly bothered her, as he was a monster, and the druagr were already dead, and could not bleed or cry in pain. She still didn't like it however, and every time she looked at a body, she always saw the face of that altmer, bloody and burned. 

“Hey, take it easy if you need to. I can lead from here if you want?” Seeing how she stared down at the two bodies, Kaidan had an idea what was going through her mind. She was doing well, and learning fast, but she was still just a normal person. A gloved hand gently patted her on the head, causing her to look at him, and she smiled a bit sadly, before nodding. 

With Kaidan now in the lead, the two ventured forth, taking down a few skeever, a random lowlife or two, as well as some crazed man who tried to lunge at them with nothing but his gloved fists. Gian The Fist, if Nara remembered his name right. She took the time to swipe his gloves and shove them in her pack for now. The enchantment on them was useful, and she could use it when things got dicey. Once they made it into the chamber that housed The Ragged Flaggon, Kaiden fell back to follow as Nara calmed down a bit, her ears shifting as she could hear the soft sounds of the market above them over the dripping water and squeaking rats. Again her nose crinkled at the myriad of smells which assaulted her, and reverted to breathing through her mouth. 

“Hm. This place has seen better days. The Thieves Guild used to be something to know, something to fear.” Kaidan's voice echoed softly in the mostly empty cavern and Nara nodded as they made their way into the Flaggon proper. Her ears picked up laughter and the conversation become clear once they got closer.

“Someone really gave it to you Bryn'. Was is Haelga again?” Vekel's laughter filled the area as he poked fun at his long time friend.

“No. Nothing like that...at least not with Haelga. Lass already knew my name, along with a few other things. I was going to ask her to join the Guild, but she already seemed to know that too...this one is different.” Brynolf's voice echoed less so against the walls, as he was nose deep in a mug of presumably ale. 

“Give it up, Brynolf. Those glory days are over.” Vekel tried to assure his friend while cleaning the inside of a mug with a...reasonably clean cloth. 

Dirge chose to cut in, “We've all heard that one before, Bryn! Quit kidding yourself.”

“What did she look like anyway, this girl?” Vekel leaned onto the counter as he continued to clean, trying to get details. 

“Shes quite the tiny thing, and shes a khajiit; cute too, but...shes the weirdest khajiit I've seen. When she shows up, you'll see.” Brynolf looked between the two men, nothing but confidence oozing from him. However, inside he wasn't too sure whether or not she would show up. The guild needed someone like her more than she needed them, surely. 

“It's time to face the truth old friend, thieves are a dying breed. Things are changing.” Vekel tried to say, though he caught the glimpse of two others coming into the Flaggon, and squinted his eyes in the dimly lit cavern. Brynolf saw Vekel's line of sight and turned to look over his shoulder, a grin spreading over his face.

“Dying breed, eh? Well what do you call that then?” The redhead moved to stand, leaving his mug at the counter and approached the two with his arms open. “Well, well. Colour me impressed, lass. I wasn't certain I'd ever see you again!” Spotting Kaidan behind her, he dropped his grin a few degrees. 

“Getting here wasn't too hard. Though, those two goons at the front are going to stink up the place if no one deals with the bodies. Seems they might have been why anyone else you sent down here didn't show up.” Nara watched him carefully for a reaction, seeing his brows rise just slightly was the only tell he hadn't known about them. 

“Reliable and head strong? You're turning out to be quite the prize.” That devilish grin he used to charm and disarm was back, the rouge walking forward, though he kept enough distance with the way her armored companion was looking at him. “You already know my name lass, but what's yours?” He let his voice drop lower, trying to really put the charm on the little minx before him. Long silky hair that fell into waves down her back. And the way her large eyes reminded him of a misty green forest, hiding secrets in that thick fog. He didn't remember bedding her, but he wanted to. 

“I'm Nara.” She spoke somewhat flatly, that look in his eye unmistakable. She didn't have anyone special in her life before coming here. Not because no one liked her; many liked her. But she had no one because too many only wanted one thing from her, and she wasn't interested. The khajiit wasn't about to play into his sleazy hands. 

“Nara, a lovely name, for such a lovely lass.” Brynolf smiled toothily at her, though it was clear she wasn't easily swayed by his looks or his charms. He liked a challenge though, and looked forward to finding out the combination to her lock. 

Kaidan cleared his throat then, grabbing the attention of the rogue, and a few in the Flaggon who had been silently ease dropping in on the little conversation with interest. “I believe you asked us here for a reason, aye?”

“That I did, lad. I asked /her/ here.” A red brow rose, looking at the larger man impatiently. 

“Where I go, Kaidan goes. If you have a problem with him at the very least being in the Flaggon, then I walk. Take it or leave it, Brynolf.” She glared up at Brynolf, knowing her will on this matter was far stronger than his. He needed help. The Guild needed help. She could find these skills elsewhere. The exasperated sigh from the rogue told her she had won.

“Alright then lass, have it your way. But he's not getting any cut of the pay. Nor is he allowed past the Flaggon.” The nod and satisfied smile Nara gave him made him wonder if she was going to be more trouble than she was worth. “I've got to go talk to the guild master about your arrangements. In the meantime, why don't you get a head start on some work for us and go collect pay from a few deadbeats who've decided they're better off without our protection?” Brynolf smiled at her, “I'd like you to explain the error of their ways, as you can be quite persuasive.”

“Alright, who are they then?” Nara already knew but again, didn't want to be too obvious that she knew more than she was letting on. 

“Keerava, Bersei Honey-Hand, and Haelga.” Brynolf thought of reminding her that she had to do this right to get into the guild, but he had a feeling she would have no problems, and left it at that. “If you need more information on the targets, ask Delvin.” He tilted his head in the direction of the man sitting at the table nearby before turning and heading back towards the entrance to the Cistern. Now to go convince Mercer that she was worth another bed and the split in the profits. He sighed, this wouldn't be easy. 

\---------

Nara and Kaidan left The Pawned Prawn 100 septims richer. Bersi had been easy enough to 'convince'. She threatened to break his prized urn and the man quickly paid before she had even truly touched the thing. Which, she was glad about and left swiftly, hoping he wouldn't hold a grudge against her for too long. This was her least favorite part about this whole quest line from the game, and experiencing it for real was proving difficult for her. Entering Haelga's Bunkhouse next, the woman in question was standing behind the counter, reading over a letter with a soft yet sultry smile on her face. Upon seeing Nara, her smile faltered, before that gaze passed over her towards Kaidan; and the smile picked back up again. “If you're looking for an inn, try The Bee and Barb.” It was clearly directed at Nara, before she turned her attentions back to Kaidan, “The Bunkhouse is for the working man.” Kaidan furrowed his brow slightly at the woman as they approached. 

“Well, we aren't here looking for an inn.” Nara placed her hands on the counter, leaning forward just slightly. “I've got a message from Brynolf.” The khajiit watched the sneer towards her shift into amusement, then disgust, then it settled on anger. 

“What does he want now? I already explained to him you can't get blood from a stone.” Haelga rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore the khajiit and lean full bodied into the counter, pressing her breasts together and stare seductively towards Kaidan. “You on the other hand. We can do business...What's your name, handsome?”

“Business?” Kaidan asked with clear confusion. “Uh..Kaidan.” The warrior shifted a questioning look to Nara for a moment, an amused look on the khajiits face. He felt uneasy suddenly. 

“Why yes. We can worship Lady Dibella together, Kaidan..” She chuckled darkly. “Think of the music our bodies could make. I'm quite skilled in her techniques...have you ever used honey while in the throws of passion?” 

“Uh, no thank you...” Kaidan lifted his hands palms up and made sure he wasn't in reach of the woman. Looking over to where Nara should be, he blinked when the woman was missing. Dammit. She was using him as a diversion. Kaidan felt a hand on his arm and he looked to see Haelga standing right next to him, batting her lashes up at him like some doe eyed girl. “And no, er...I haven't.” Kaidan's face mirrored just how uneasy he felt by this situation as he tried to gently pry the woman off of him. 

Nara snickered internally at how obviously uncomfortable Kaidan was. While she felt bad she would rescue him in a moment, using the distraction to go around the corner and locate the statue of Dibella. In person it looked a lot larger...and heavier. The khajiit woman placed her hand on either side of the statue, and lifted with a huff, ready for the weight, but her muscles still spasmed slightly. Making sure she wouldn't drop the thing, she tilted it more onto her body so the weight was dispersed evenly, and walked back around the corner. 

“So how about Lady Dibella goes for a swim in the lake?” Nara huffed through her nose, keeping her face straight despite the heavy weight.

“Not Lady Dibella, no!” Haelga cried out looking over to the small khajiit carrying her prized statuette. The woman then turned a hateful gaze up to Kaidan, and shoved him away, though he didn't really budge as she wasn't a strong woman. “I should've known she had you wrapped around her finger.” Poor Kaidan just blinked in confusion, but was glad she no longer clung to him like a wet rag. 

“So are you going to pay what you owe??” Nara quirked a brow, making to move like she was going to walk out of the door with the solid visage of Dibella.

“Fine!” Haelga all but stomped back behind the counter, and flung a pouch of gold, hitting Kaidan in the face. “I hope you choke on it.” Kaidan rubbed his nose, but took the gold and put it with the other pouch, before looking towards Nara, a little annoyed at being bait.

“Wonderful. Thank you for seeing our way of things.” The khajiit set down the statue with before waltzing out, deciding to let Haelga figure out how to move the damn thing, Kaidan not far behind her. 

“You don't think you could've let me in on your little plan, Nara? Went and left me to that viper back there.” Kaidan glared at her slightly, though he couldn't truly be mad at her. 

“Sorry, but it was sort of spur of the moment. I'll buy you lots of new arrows and some black-briar mead in thanks for your sacrifice.” She chuckled softly as they made their way to the Bee and Barb to speak with Keerava. Upon entering, she saw Talen-Jei nuzzling up to Keerava behind the bar for a moment as he dropped off some empty mugs. She smiled softly at the pair, then an idea struck her. “Hey Kaidan, lets take a short rest, I need to talk to Talen before I speak to Keerava about the debt.” Looking over her shoulder, the man nodded and went up to his room for some quiet rest as it was still too early for the next meal. 

Approaching Talen-Jei Nara smiled at him, shifting her eyes to Keerava, “So, how long have you known Keerava?” The argonian seemed surprised by the question, but also happy.

“After I met her upon wandering into Riften, I was completely smitten. That was a few years ago..” He lowered his voice, looking over his shoulder to make sure Keerava couldn't hear. “In fact I'm thinking about asking her to marry me.” The argonian however seemed a little tense, and sighed.

“Is something wrong? Do you think she would say no?”

Talen-Jei shook his head, “The ring is incomplete. In Black Marsh, tradition dictates we present a potential mate a unique wedding ring to represent our future bond. I already have the gold band, but all I need are three flawless amethysts to complete the setting.”

“I can get those for you...” Nara trailed off a moment, “For a modest price.” 

“What do you want?” Talen-Jei seemed wary, but willing to at least hear her out.

“Keerava owes Brynolf and the guild some money. You pay up, I'll gladly find those three amethysts for you.” Nara sighed at the anger on his scaly face. “Look, I'd really rather not even ask you two to pay up, and 100 septims is going to be far cheaper than buying them outright as well as who knows how long it could take for the amethysts to just end up in your hands.” 

After some long moments of consideration, Talen-Jei sighed. “You make a fair point. Wait here and I shall talk to Keerava.” With that, the Argonian moved back over towards the bar to talk to his intended in hushed towns. Nara was on the receiving end of a glare of two from Keerava, but she didn't mind, looking around. She made eye contact with Louis Letrush, and nodded. Well, that was one excuse to go into the jail so she could get to Inigo. 

“Looking for work? I need someone to deliver a message to Sibbi Black-Briar.” Louis's spoke in a quiet tone as he approached her, looking her up and down, most likely out of curiosity. Nara rolled her eyes.

“I might be. What is this message about?”

“I recently approached Sibbi about buying a horse named Frost, one of the finest breeding horses in Skyrim in fact. He agreed to sell.” The man sighed before continuing. “I already paid half, but Maven had him locked up before we could complete the trade. This does not exempt him from our deal.”

“Right. So talk to this Sibbi and then you need me to deliver the horse and papers to you, as he is locked up and can't do so himself, yes?” Nara quirked a brow waiting patiently. She could only let so much slip. 

“..Yes. Clever woman. See to it that it gets done.” Louis held out his hand. “Let me see your map, I'll mark the meeting location. Once you've spoken to Sibbi, come back here and we will agree on a time to meet.” Nara handed the map over and let Louis mark it, looking at the spot for a moment before nodding and putting it away. 

“I shall see you later then, Louis. I have a few things before I speak to Sibbi, but I will not dally on this matter.”

“See to it that you don't.” With that, Letrush left the inn for the evening presumably. 

Nara went back over towards the bar to get the money from Keerava, which the argonian handed over without a fight. Now they just had to return to the Flaggon, get the Goldenglow job, then go talk to Sibbi and get Inigo, as well ask talk to Shadr, get the salts for Balimund. She sighed as her list of things to do was steadily growing. That also made Nara stop and think; what to be done about Mercer Frey? In the games everyone only believed her after they opened the vaults to show them empty. Should she even interfere? It could change a lot, but wasn't doing nothing worse? With a lot to think about she went up to her rented room to think for a while before they headed back into the ratway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sugoitoi here
> 
> Yet another chapter is up, and I'm just having the time of my life writing these. I had a bit of writers block with this one, but my wonderful husband helped me out and has been a partial proof-reader for me since I started writing these. Comment and Kudos.
> 
> Ta Ta for now.


End file.
